Returning 3: New Generation
by Zenkx
Summary: Over thirty years later, Cerberus still have some suprises up their sleeves, and the Normandy SR-2's new crew are after them. [Mostly OC characters, with mentions of known characters. Rated M due to language and some violence] LAST OF MY SERIES! WHOOHOO!
1. Authoress' Introduction

I am done.

I am just soooo done!

A month of mental blocks, brain farts and boxes of cigarettes later, I. Am. DONE.

And this is the last of it… or I think it is… for the series anyway.

And just in time! I have a new fanfic in my head already… not related though. But still…

Thanks so much for reading the whole series. It's been a headache, but I had fun writing it.

Don't forget to post comments! XD

ENJOY THE LAST PART OF THE RETURNING SERIES! XD

Some characters are the property of BioWare.

I AM SO DONE! XD


	2. Chapter 1

_He stood in front of a cryo-shell, seeing a human female in white, floating in what seemed to be cold water, very long, silvery white hair floating all around her. She was beautiful, with a heart-shaped face, silvery eyebrows, a quaint nose, and full pink lips. She was clad in what looked like a chiffon dress, which flowed around her like her hair. She had a lithe, athletic body for a human._

_Suddenly, the glass on the woman's cryo-shell shattered, and water spilled on all directions. The woman started falling, her arms spread wide. His own arms opened, ready to catch her._

_Her eyes opened, and he was shocked. The almond-shaped eyes were beautiful… except for her blood red irises._

_Something knocked him back, and he felt himself flying…_

"_Jarred…"_


	3. Chapter 2

"Jarred!"

The man's eyes widened, his hands finding his gun, and he stood up in a flash expecting combat. But he was inside of a ship instead of a battlefield, and his green eyes blinked. He looked around and saw a male human, grinning.

"Tristan… I mean, Commander Alenko." He straightened and saluted.

Commander Tristan Alenko was in an act to return his salute, but he stopped and grinned, waving his hand. He was a well-built man, honed to fight and win. Jarred had known him all his life, mainly because his father helped him to become an N7 recruit at the age of 15, and because his father, Kaidan Alenko, was one of his family's friends. He got his father's jet black hair and build, but he had inherited his mother's blue eyes. Jarred lowered his salute, and grinned back.

"Stop that, Jarred." Tristan said, "You know me well enough to call me that."

"But still, this is your ship, _Commander._" Jarred said, emphasizing the title again, "It would be unprofessional of me to call my Commanding officer with his first name."

Tristan laughed, "Oh, shut up." He pointed to the direction of the bridge, "We're nearing the Citadel now. Edison said we'll be there in five minutes." Tristan placed his hands on his back and regarded Jarred with proud authority. "You really did well, Jarred. That Cerberus base was not known by our researchers. That fact that you traced it and destroyed it… almost by yourself, was admirable. Though…" At this Tristan looked saddened, "I am… sorry about your squad. I should have known that there were a lot of guards there. You shouldn't have gone there with just four people. I'm sorry. It was wrong of me to not consider Cerberus that much of a threat."

Jarred nodded and looked down. He had discovered a hidden Cerberus base with the help of the Shadow Broker, and headed with a small team of four people to Gromar in the Voyager Cluster. Upon investigation, they found out that the Cerberus base was still active, with guards patrolling the area. Even though they were able to destroy the relatively small base, Jarred lost four of his soldiers to the guards. He had barely reached Tristan's ship, the Normandy SR-2. He got exhausted in the fight, and was grieving, and he was advised to rest…

Which was why he dreamt of the silver woman.

"What are you thinking about?" Tristan asked.

Jarred shook his head, "Nothing. I just… I just dread what the Council would say."

Tristan patted him on his shoulder, "You did what you could. Your mission was to destroy that Cerberus base, and that's what you did. I never knew that Cerberus was still pretty active, despite that it's been thirty years. I guess some people are just that angry at aliens that they're obsessed to kill them all."

He scoffed, "If Cerberus hates aliens so much, they'd probably hate me more."

Tristan laughed, "Hey now. Guys like you are awesome." And it that instant, the Normandy SR-2's pilot, Edison Moreau's voice crackled through the InterComm, "Commander Alenko, you are needed at the bridge."

"Yeah, I'll be right there. I'm just here at the Main Battery Room with Jarred." Tristan patted his shoulder again. "I'll be right back."

Jarred nodded, and he went back to his console as Tristan stepped out of the room. He glanced over the wall, where the steel reflected his image. He stopped what he was doing and walked towards his reflection.

Jarred Vancair was a turian-human hybrid… the first of his kind. He had a turian father and a human mother, and although his genetics was primarily dominated by his mother's genes, he still had turian traits. His skin was still rough like the turians, but it didn't cover him like plates, but rather like human skin. His hands might have five digits, but his nails were more like short talons. His face was handsome, but he had inherited his father's turian plating, which covered his forehead, the top of his skull (where the plates formed into a shorter fringe than the pure turians) and around his eyes. He also had mandibles, which flares when he smiles or laughs. His body was more human than turian, however, and he also inherited his mother's green eyes and red hair, which covered the lower part of the back of his head, where it flowed down his shoulders. Dark blue marks were painted on his mandibles and under his eyes.

Yes. Cerberus would truly hate an abomination like him.

"Jarred, we're here." Tristan's voice said through his earpiece. "I'll see you at the dock."

Jarred nodded, "Sure. I'm on my way." He stopped looking at his reflection, holstered his assault rifle at his back, and headed out the Battery Room.


	4. Chapter 3

Jarred swallowed his nervousness away, looking at the people before him. He had known some of them since he was a child, but still, seeing them so 'official' made him nervous. He looked at the man on the far left, with graying hair, but he was smiling at him, and he winked. Jarred's mandible flared ever so slightly as he smiled.

"Jarred Vancair." The man… Tristan's father and the Human Councilor, Admiral Kaidan Alenko, said. "Your intelligence was very valuable in the mission. It's hard to believe that Cerberus is still active." Kaidan's brows furrowed, "Even after all these years, The Illusive Man's venom runs deep." But he smiled as he looked at Jarred, "But… in only three years, you've done so much in destroying what is left of Cerberus. I've been purging them all my life, but it still keeps growing. "

The Quarian Councilor, Admiral Tali'Zorah, spoke. "Influence is a very powerful thing, Kaidan. You do remember the influence of Commander Shepard did to us."

Urdnot Mordin, the Krogan Councilor nodded. "My parents loved the Commander. It was because of her that we are all here and enjoying the peace we have achieved."

The turian in the far right, the Turian Councilor Adrian Victus, nodded, "If Commander Shepard's influence has spread to us, then the Illusive Man's influence has done the same, even though he is dead..."

"But still, it is strange that even after so long… almost thirty years… the issue of Cerberus still continues. Their propaganda must be… extensive." Admiral Kirrahe, the Salarian Councilor said.

Kaidan grinned, "You can blame the extranet for that. I've seen so many Cerberus related sites in there. I wouldn't be surprised if all these smaller bases were created by humans who idolized Cerberus' ideals."

"The extranet may have spread it, but it's hatred that created it." Councilor Tali shook her head, "And hatred consumes all creatures quickly."

"At any rate, with soldiers like Tristan Alenko and Infiltrators like Jarred Vancair, we will be able to purge Cerberus, whether it's small scale or a huge abandoned project base." Councilor Mordin said, "For one so young, you have done so much for the council. And for your… genetic race, you have done many amazing things, Jarred."

Jarred scowled, but he hid it in his bow. "I know. Thank you, Councilors."

Tali nodded in consent, "And… I am sorry for your squad. Death… is part of military service. Losing allies is hard, but… it will give the strength to fight back. It will push you, harder and faster, to achieve the peace and justice you wanted."

"However, we have a new assignment for you." Victus said, "As you have noticed, we do not have an Asari Councilor." He pointed at the left of him, where there was a console, but no one behind it. "The previous councilor has been… removed. Commander Alenko's research has confirmed that she was… anti-human." Victus scoffed annoyed, "Foolish."

"At any rate, we have chosen a new Asari Councilor. She was an unlikely candidate, but all her years have made her wise beyond any of the asaris." Tali said, "And knowing her personally, she would be fit for it."

Tristan looked up to his father, "Who is it?"

Mordin smiled, "Justicar Samara, believe it or not." And Jarred and Tristan looked at each other. "She was bound by her Justicar Code, but she decided that she would enforce it in a different manner, and though she was reluctant at first, she agreed."

"Commander Alenko, you are to take your crew and the Normandy to Lesuss, where Samara and her daughter, Falere is." Kaidan said, "I have also taken the liberty to… replace the crew that you had lost. You will find them in the Normandy once you head back. They know of you and your exploits, and they said they were honored to serve with you. Lieutenant Vancair, once again, you will assist Commander Alenko."

Jarred saluted, "Yes, sir."

"This council is adjourned." Tali said, but instead of walking down the platform, she and Kaidan came forward as Victus, Kirrahe and Mordin left.

"It's good to see you, son." Kaidan said as he shook hands with his son, "You've been pretty busy."

Tristan smiled at his father, "Yeah. Liara's been relentless lately. Her intel as the Shadow Broker said that there are still some small-time Cerberus bases around the galaxy. Miranda and Jacob's been looking around old Cerberus files too… they said there are still active large-scale Cerberus bases that haven't been shut down yet. We're waiting on Liara to get some leads."

Tali nodded, before turning to Jarred, "And you, Jarred. You've been amazing. I've read Tristan's reports. I'm sorry about your crew. But I am happy you are safe. How are your parents?"

Jarred smiled, "They've been great. Dad's been all handy-dandy around the house, making repairs and stuff. Mom's fine but she wants me to visit when I have an extended shore leave."

"Well, send our regards to your parents." Tali said, "I haven't visited in ages. All this council work is making me miss the Normandy's Engineering Deck so much. At least, that was fun. I haven't touched an engine console in years."

The four of them laughed as Kaidan and Tali walked away. And Tristan turned to Jarred, "So, shall we head back to the Normandy?"

Jarred nodded, "Yeah, let's go. We gotta pick up the Justicar…"

At that moment, Tristan's OmniTool sounded. "Yes, Edison?"

A young man popped up on Tristan's screen, wearing an SR-2 cap. Edison Moreau was rather handsome, with grey eyes and a smooth face. He had inherited his father, Jeff 'Joker' Moreau's smirking mouth, and his attitude, but luckily, not his Vrolik's Syndrome. Joker had retired being a pilot for the Normandy, but he has started to teach instead. He had trained his son, Edison, when he was still in the Alliance Navy to become a pilot, and Edison's skills were honed to the point that Kaidan had allowed him to be the Flight Lieutenant for the Normandy, like his father. He smiled when he saw Jarred stand beside Tristan.

"Aww. You guys look sweet, strolling around the Citadel together." Edison smirked.

Jarred laughed, "I will get you, Moreau. We're on our way back to the Normandy."

Edison laughed as well, "You're lucky I didn't inherit my dad's Vrolik's Syndrome, Jarred."

"Yeah, you're more resilient… which pretty much means I can mess you up more."

"Well, go ahead and mess me up. Good luck getting to Lesuss, though." Edison laughed again.

"Edison." A robotic voice said, and Jarred recognized Edison's robot mother, EDI. "Please do not tease the Commander. I would be most displeased if your teasing would result in my son getting thrown out the airlock."

Edison sighed, "Yes, mother. Behaving now."

Tristan smirked, "So what's up, Edison? I doubt you called me just because you wanted to pick on us."

"Yeah well, that was one reason." Edison smirked, "But, the Shadow Broker just contacted me. She found out new intel. Turns out there is a huge Cerberus base somewhere in Lesuss itself. It was abandoned, but power seems to be running deep underground. It's on the other side of the planet from the asari colony where Samara is living. I'll give you the coordinates once you've gotten the Justicar."

Tristan nodded, "Got it. We're heading back now."

"Commander, the new people Admiral Alenko has referred to be our new personnel have arrived as well." EDI said.

"Alright, we're on our way." Tristan nodded to Edison and pressed a button on his OmniTool as he and Jarred started walking back to the port.


	5. Chapter 4

As soon as the doors of the Normandy opened, something rushed at Jarred and Tristan. A hard helmet knocked them both on the head as the creature engulfed them on a bear hug. Jarred's facial carapace protected him from getting hurt, but Tristan's fleshy human head made contact with metal.

"OW!" Tristan exclaimed as the hug grew tight, and finally released them. Jarred's mouth opened in shock.

"Amira?!"

The quarian woman named Amira'Zorah Nar Rannoch nodded, her helmet emitting a pair of glowing eyes, her three-fingered hands clasped together in her chest in delight. Even though the Geth have boosted the immune system of the quarians, they have decided to keep wearing the suits in case of some unknown viruses, but also as a cultural heritage. "Jarred! Tristan! It's been too long!" The mouth piece of her helmet glowed as she spoke.

"What are you doing here?" Jarred asked, as Tristan continued to rub the red mark on the side of his head.

"We're your new crewmates, of course." A voice said from behind Amira said, and a lithe-looking drell, Thanikah Krios, came forward, her sunset-colored eyes glinting with mirth, her light-green scales reflecting the light of the Normandy. "Tristan's father pulled some strings, and we were told that you needed new crew members."

"Thanikah?!" It was Tristan who spoke this time, "You came as well? I thought your immuno-booster shots for Kepral's Syndrome wasn't done yet."

"Fine now. Cure synthesized earlier than expected." Seven more people stood behind Thanikah and Amira, and four of them were familiar faces. It was a tall, thin, grayish salarian who spoke, and it smiled as it came forward and shook hands with the two of them. "Kolyat Krios' research team created cure. Need for life-long immuno-boosters for sufferers no longer needed. Kepral's Syndrome can be cured with one medicine."

At this, Thanikah scoffed, "Yeah. I'm cured. It hurt like hell though. I couldn't breathe properly for a month."

"Medicine intended for immunity and cure at same time. Slight alteration and genetic modification of lung tissue expected." The salarian named Nicholas Solus explained. "Discomfort a mere side effect. But, happy you are well now, Thanikah."

The drell smiled, "Yeah. I'm glad I'm cured too."

An asari and a krogan came forward then, and Jarred smiled, as he was familiar with them. "Edison, you should have told us they were coming."

The pilot shrugged as he smiled, and the asari came forward… the Shadow Broker herself, Liara T'Soni. "Kaidan asked us if we would be of some help to you. And we said yes."

The krogan named Grunt nodded, "Yeah. It's been getting boring at Tuchanka. Urdnot Shepard has been running things so smoothly, it's annoying. Wrex raised a good kid, but varren hunting every day is getting boring."

Jarred laughed and Tristan came forward to the three other people behind them. "And these are?"

"Engineer Chris Radley, Yeoman Jose Cruz and Private Leena Traynor." Liara said as she introduce the three humans behind her, and they saluted Tristan and Jarred. "I've hand-picked them myself. They are the best at what they do. They would be a good addition to the Normandy crew."

Tristan returned their salute, "Welcome to the Normandy everyone. Please get to your stations. We'll be leaving for Lesuss soon to pick up Councilor Samara."

"Aye aye, sir!" The three humans headed for their station, and Liara nodded, "I've set up my network again. I have missed working in the Normandy. It's been years. I am rather fond of this ship. Feron and my daughter, Kaira, are in my old ship, they'll be helping me as well." She sighed, "Well, I'd better get going. Come to me when you need me, Tristan."

He nodded, and Liara and Grunt went off. Tristan patted Jarred, "Well, I'd better go too, we need to get to Lesuss." He mentioned towards Edison, "Let's go, Ed."

Edison and Tristan went back to the bridge, and Jarred, Thanikah, Amira and Nicholas headed to the Main Battery, where Jarred stayed.

"I can't believe we are serving the same ship our parents did." Thanikah said, but shook her head in an afterthought, "Well, maybe not. It was my grandfather who was here. I heard Grandfather Thane was a good friend of Justicar Samara."

Amira nodded, "My mother mentioned him too. She said he was really confident, and he had remembered everything that ever happened in his life because of the drell's eidetic memory." She looked up at Thanikah, "Do you do that too, Nika?"

She shrugged, "Yes. It's something that drells are genetically programmed to have. But it's really hard when that happens." She shivered, "I don't want to remember the side effects of that Kepral's cure."

"But, cure useful. If cure wasn't synthesized before opportunity came, would have left her in Huerta Memorial Hospital instead of Normandy." Nicholas said.

Thanikah smiled, "Thanks for the reminder, Nicky. I'll make sure to thank Dad later."

Jarred smiled, and Amira looked up at him. "We're happy you're okay, Jarred. Sorry about your team, but our parents did say that serving in the military is hard."

He shrugged, "Yeah. They tell us that all the time, and yet here we are, still in the military."

Amira snorted under her helm, "Correction. I am on my Pilgrimage. Not the military. I plan on heading back to Rannoch once this is done." She stretched and nodded at them, "Well, I should head to the Engineering Deck. I'll see you guys later!"

Nicholas coughed a bit, "By the way, Thanikah. Mr. Krios asked favor. Medical check-ups once in Normandy, also scans of lung tissue and respiratory capacity as additional study for him." He shrugged, "Headed to Medical Bay to talk to your father. Coming?"

At this, Thanikah threw her hands, "Alright. Alright. Sheesh, sometimes I feel like a guinea pig for that Kepral's medicine." She waved goodbye to Jarred, "We'll see you later, Jarred."

"Bye, Jarred!" Amira waved enthusiastically as Jarred waved back as the doors of the Main Battery closed, and Jarred went back to work.


	6. Chapter 5

"Ah yes, Kaidan did mention you were coming."

The group stood before the new Asari Councilor, Justicar Samara. She sat beside her daughter, Falere, and was wearing a velvet red gown. It's been years since the Reaper War, but she didn't seem to have aged a day.

"Samara, good to see you." Grunt said from the back. The krogan had remembered his time with her, during the battle with the Collectors many years ago.

Samara smiled, "And you, Grunt. You have grown well. You were only seven days old when Shepard and I rescued you from Okeer. And yet, here you are still full of spirit."

Grunt laughed, "And you… I remembered you used to be ruthless. You killed because you were following your code. What changed? All of the sudden, you've become a Councilor."

"I have left my Justicar Code. Times are rather different now. The other Justicars have left as well, and have decided to settle their lives in peace. Although I believe there are still many injustices left in this world, I have decided that in being Councilor, I can settle these disputes without resorting to bloodshed. That is why I accepted the position."

"And I believe you would do well with it, Samara." Liara said, "Your wisdom would be a good addition to the Council."

The Justicar smiled, "Kaidan, Tali and Mordin are wise enough as well." She stood up, and Falere followed. She hugged her daughter goodbye, smiling at her before turning to them. "I am ready to go."

"Samara, there is something we would like to ask." Tristan said, and Samara looked at him and smiled.

"Ah, you are Kaidan's son, correct?" Tristant nodded, and Samara touched his face, "You have your father's hair, as well as his spirit. I can sense it. What is it you would like to ask me?"

"We received intelligence that there was a hidden Cerberus base here. Any idea how it happened?"

Samara shook her head, but it was Falere who answered, "This Monastery is small, and the outside has many dangers." She said, "Although, we did have a meteor land a few years ago, it shook the whole monastery. It happened thirty two years ago, I believe. We couldn't venture to the area as we Ardat-Yakshi are not allowed outside, so we never knew what it was."

"Why do you ask, son of Kaidan?" Samara said.

"My name is Tristan, Councilor Samara." He said as he bowed slightly, and Samara returned it with one of her own, "Liara has detected an energy signature here, deep underground. We're going to investigate it."

Samara looked a little concerned, "Cerberus? In Lesuss? It's impossible." But she shook her head, "Shall I accompany you to the area?"

Tristan waved off the offer, "There's no need for that, Councilor. We'll do it. Besides, you need to get settled in the Normandy." He looked back and mentioned to the crew. "Jarred, Amira and Grunt… you're with me. The rest of you, accompany Councilor Samara to the Normandy. Make sure she's comfortable."

"Thank you, Tristan." Samara smiled again as they left. Tristan radioed Edison, "Edison, we're taking the shuttle and head to the Cerberus base, think you can pick up Councilor Samara?"

"Aye, aye, Commander." Edison's voice said through their earpiece. And soon enough the Normandy hovered over them.

Samara smiled, "I have missed this vessel. It has been many years."

"Admiral Tali'Zorah told us that you used to reside at the Starboard Observation. You're welcome to stay there again if you'd like." Jarred said from behind her.

Samara turned to Jarred to smile at him, "That would be lovely… oh!" Her eyes widened at the sight of Jarred. "Oh!"

Jarred bowed his head, and Samara smiled, "I see now." She said and reached out to Jarred's face, pulling his face towards her. "I know who you are."

Falere and the other crew were looking at him strangely now, and Jarred's voice dropped a whisper. "Councilor Samara… please…"

Samara read Jarred's face, and immediately understood. She nodded a little, "You are destined for greatness, young one." And she walked to the Normandy.

Jarred coughed, "Let's get on with the mission, shall we?"

Tristan came forward and patted Jarred, "He's right. Let's move out."

The four of them headed back to the shuttle, and Jarred looked back at the Justicar. She was standing on the Boarding Dock of the Normandy, smiling at him, as if she knew something. When their gazes met, Samara smiled even more, shaking her head a little, before climbing up the ship.


	7. Chapter 6

"Damn, that is one big hole."

Jarred, Grunt, Tristan and Amira looked down from the shuttle's windows, seeing the damage of the "asteroid" that hit Lesuss. The hole the impact created was deep, with only the dark abyss before them. It was wide enough to fit two Normandy-sized ships.

"Are… are we really going down there?" Amira said nervously from the driver's seat.

Tristan had a determined look in his eyes, "Yes. Bring it down nice and slow, Amira."

The quarian obliged and the shuttle lowered down, and pretty soon, only the shuttle's lights seem to be their only comfort… total darkness enveloped them.

"Holy… this hole goes on forever!" Tristan exclaimed.

Jarred, whose vision was clearest among them, squinted through the darkness. "No, it doesn't. There's some light down there. Speed up a little, Amira."

She increased the speed, and soon enough, they found a dimly lit docking bay. Bright blue lights illuminated the area, but there were no signs of life, human or otherwise. Amira landed the shuttle, and everyone got out.

Grunt took out his gun, but Jarred shook his head as they gazed into the dim floor. "There's nobody here. There's power and electricity, but as for human presence, I can't see anything."

"Must've been abandoned a long time ago." Amira said, stepping beside Jarred. She went over what looked like a console, and scanned it with her OmniTool. She shook her head, "Some of the controls are down. It probably got broken when this fell here." She touched the metal and looked her fingers, "It's dusty. Nobody has gone here at all."

"Let's move forward. Maybe we can find out more about this." Tristan said as he walked, the four of them followed.

Their footsteps echoed through the abandoned structure, and they used the flashlights of their OmniTool to illuminate the floor. Something cracked on Jarred's foot, and he looked down, seeing a dried up human skull.

"Crap!" Jarred exclaimed, and Tristan followed his gaze to his foot. A perfect human skeleton was on the floor, and after looking around, they saw four other human skeletons littered across the floor.

"They must've died in the crash." Grunt said, "Anybody hungry?"

Tristan chuckled as he used his OmniTool as a flashlight to look around, "You never change, Grunt." His flashlight illuminated four doors in front of them. "Looks like we're going to have to split up."

Amira scanned the door on the farthest left side. "This door leads to the engine room. Maybe I can take a look around here." She scanned the other three doors, "The others are the bridge, the cargo bay, and… a containment unit?"

"Right." Tristan looked at them, "Where would you guys like to go?"

Jarred holstered his gun, "Since Amira's taking the engine room, maybe you should take the bridge, Tristan. There might be some information there about the crash landing. Grunt should take the cargo bay, and I'll take the containment unit."

"Tristan." EDI said from their Coms. "The energy signature is mostly concentrated at the containment unit. It appears that the machinery located in the area is designed to focus all available resources to that particular room. I would suggest someone with some tech expertise to investigate it."

Tristan nodded, "Got it, EDI. Everybody okay with that?"

Jarred and Amira nodded, and Grunt said, "Yeah. Fine with me. They might have weapons there in the cargo hold. Might as well take what we can salvage." He headed down the stairs to the cargo hold, and they heard him mutter, "Hope they got some food down here too."

Jarred chuckled, as he nodded to Tristan and Amira, before opening the door to the containment unit. It turned out to be an elevator, and he pressed the single button on the wall.

"Tristan, the containment area seems to be at the bottom." Jarred said, pressing a finger to his earpiece, "I'm on my way down."

"Be careful down there." Tristan said, "We don't know what we will find."

"Tristan." Amira said, "The engines of this ship are gone. Looks like it's been blasted to bits. I guess that's why it crashed. I'm on my way back up. I'll be coming with you to the bridge."

Jarred looked at the elevator, and noticed that it took a while. "Damn… how deep does it go anyway?"

"What's up, Jarred?" It was Amira.

"This elevator hasn't stopped yet." Jarred said, "It's taking forever."

"Hmm… you must be heading down to the basement. This must be a really big ship if it's that deep."

The elevator pinged, and the doors opened. Jarred breathed a sigh of relief. "Finally! I'm on the containment unit, Tristan."

"Alright. See what you can find. But be careful."

Jarred took out his pistol, using the OmniTool flashlight again. It was dark, but he could see a faint light in the farthest end of the corridor. He looked around, but it was empty. He headed cautiously to the light.

The light turned out to be a frozen cryo-shell. There were other shells like the one that had the light, but they were empty. A console stood beside it, and he activated it, causing the shell to become illuminated in bright orange light. He raised his hand and wiped away the frost the covered the glass. He gasped.

It was the human woman he dreamt of. It was her cryo-shell.


	8. Chapter 7

He wiped away the rest of the frost, and he saw that it was exactly as he dreamt her. Silvery white hair and chiffon cloth floated around her, her hands clasped on her chest. Her eyes were closed, but her brows were furrowed, as if she was in pain. He noticed that her eyeballs were moving under her closed lids.

"Crap!" Jarred muttered again, and he scanned the console beside her. It was functional, but just barely. He downloaded the information it contained and saved it.

"What's going on, Jarred? Talk to me." Tristan said through his earpiece.

"There's a human here!" Jarred exclaimed, as he tried to press the buttons on the console, but an error message popped up. "She's still alive. She's contained in a cryo-shell!"

"Hang on! We're on our way." Tristan said, and he heard his Commander's footsteps as he ran.

Jarred was still fumbling with the controls, but he stopped. He sensed something. He looked at the corner of his eyes, seeing something in the darkness move.

As quick as a flash, he dodged, just as a metal blade slashed down, destroying the console. Jarred raised his pistol and the light showed another human, clad in black armor, holding what looked like a sword. There was a visor with blue lights on his eyes, and his hair pulled back in a ponytail.

He raised his pistol to shoot, but the human merely slashed it aside. He retaliated by bringing up his foot to the adversary, where it connected with a rib. He followed it up with a punch to the human's face. It staggered a few feet, which gave enough time for Jarred to run for his gun.

He picked it up and turned, and his pistol clashed with metal. The human was pushing his sword down, and he used his gun to block the attack. Jarred grunted with effort, trying to push the human away, but his strength was too much. He summoned up his strength and kicked the human away. He flew through the air, and his sword slashed at the cryo-shell.

The shell splintered, and broke, freezing cold water spilling everywhere. The woman inside started to fall. Jarred broke into a run, just as the woman fell. She landed directly at him and he was able to catch her in his arms.

She coughed up water, spilling it down his arm as he held her. Slowly, she raised her head, and opened her eyes. Just like in his dream, her red irises met his.

She wanted to talk, he could see her pink lips move. But before she could, he heard his attacker get up. He raised his pistol, trying to maneuver a shot even though he was carrying a woman.

But the woman raised a hand, and the attacker suddenly stopped, and started floating through the air. He looked down at the woman, and he could see her face, twisted in effort. She made an action of throwing out her hand, and the assassin flew through the air again, and Jarred heard the satisfying sound of skull on metal. There was a shot, and the assassin grunted, before exhaling a long breath.

Four more shots fired at the assassin. Then he heard light footsteps. The woman in his arms groaned in pain, before fainting limp in his arms. He arranged her so she could look at her face. It looked like she was sleeping.

"You've been busy, Jarred." Thanikah stepped to the light and grinned down at him. "Why do you get all the fun?"

"Very funny, Thanikah." Jarred said annoyed, "Help me. I think she's really weak."

Thanikah removed her jacket, and wrapped it around the girl. "Damn, she's freezing."

More footsteps sounded, and Grunt, Tristan and Amira looked down at them. "Thanikah! What are you doing here?"

"Getting my share of the fun, of course." Thanikah said, grinning as she tucked the rest of her cloak around the human. "I got another shuttle after I dropped Samara into the Normandy. Turns out, I was lucky. I recognized that bastard who attacked Jarred."

Amira dropped down on the woman, and Thanikah straightened up, the planes on her face hard. "I heard it from my father. That guy was a clone of Kai Leng… the assassin that stabbed my Grandfather Thane when he was protecting the Salarian Councilor during the Cerberus coup thirty one years ago. Commander Shepard killed him. But I guess he had a clone hiding out here. He must've activated when Jarred started picking around the console."

Tristan nodded, and pointed down at the human in Jarred's arms, "And this?"

Jarred shook his head, "I don't know yet. But I took whatever info that console contained." He pointed at the slashed up console, beside the girl's cryo-shell. "I was about to open it up to free her when that bastard attacked."

Tristan kneeled beside the human, "I just hope she's not with Cerberus. How is she doing, Amira?"

"Slightly hypothermic, but she seems to be fine." Amira said as she scanned the woman with her Omni-Tool, "No sickness or injuries whatsoever.."

Grunt asked, "What is she doing here?"

"We don't know yet, but I think we can ask Liara for some info. And maybe take a look at what we got here." He pressed his earpiece again, "Edison, you hear me?"

"Yes, Commander. What's up?"

"Tell Nicholas to prepare the Med Bay. We got a human down here. Tell Liara to wait for us there too, we got some information she might look into."

"Aye, aye, sir."

Tristan ended his conversation with the pilot and nodded down at the woman, "Let's head back to the Normandy. Maybe Liara could get some intel on her."

"Yeah, okay. I got her." Jarred tucked the coat around the woman and held her in his arms as he stood up. She was light, and her arms were cold. Thanikah gave him a weird look before walking ahead with Tristan.

Grunt came forward, "Need some help with that?"

Jarred shook his head, "Nah. I'm good, Grunt. But try and help by covering behind us. Maybe there are more clones around here that we don't know about."

The krogan nodded, and walked behind Jarred, using his flashlight to see if there's anyone following them.

In the darkness, Jarred bit his lip. He felt like there was only one of the clones, but didn't want Grunt to know about it. He just didn't want anyone else to touch the woman sleeping in his arms.


	9. Chapter 8

Jarred and Tristan entered the Med Bay after an hour of privacy so Nicholas can check up the woman's condition. The woman lay on the bed, thick blankets covering her, as Nicholas pressed a few buttons on a console beside the bed she lay on.

"How is she, Nicky?" Jarred said as he looked down at the woman, her previously pale face turning into a light shade of pink from the warmth of the blankets.

Nicholas nodded at the console, "Jarred's scans helpful in information retrieval on human. Medical test confirmed she is healthy, but slightly hypothermic and exhausted. Cold cryo-shell preserved much of vital organ functions. Body functions returning to normal very taxing on human anatomy." He scanned the console with his OmniTool and went to a giant screen. He uploaded the data, which included a picture of the woman. Tristan blinked at the woman's red eyes.

"Her eyes are red?" Tristan asked and Nicholas nodded, "Information states human named Meiou Seishiro. Japanese-American ancestry, aged 20… or at least during time of containment. Cryo-stasis stopped aging process. Diagnosed on Earth with Albinism… lack of melanin on cells. Causes whiteness of all hair, light skin and sometimes, red irises." He brought up another chart, "Meiou has L3 implants. However, records lifted by Jarred also mention human is… telekinetic."

Tristan blinked again, "Telekinetic? Like… moving stuff with her mind?"

Nicholas nodded, "Yes. Might make L3 implant useless if telekinetic. Puzzling that Cerberus implanted into her." He shrugged, "No idea why, Cerberus complex corporation, but very unethical."

"Anything else?" Jarred asked.

"Ah yes. Jarred scans also show historical data on Meiou." Nicholas flipped around the screen again, "Meiou once involved in project in Pragia, details unknown, suggest talking to Liara for information. But was moved to Cerberus facility, for unknown reason as well. But ship crashed. Attacked by Collectors on 2185 CE…"

Something clicked inside Jarred's head. "They were harvested by the Reapers?"

Nicholas nodded, "Dead humans not useful for harvesting, it seems. Collectors prefer living. Meiou and Kai Leng clone not taken. Probably deemed dead by Collectors due to absence of body heat, or very well hidden."

Tristan crossed his arms, "Probably, but I'm curious as to that project in Pragia. Maybe I should talk with Liara."

"Great decision." Nicholas said as he collected all of the data he used back to his OmniTool. "Was thinking of talking to asari myself. Shall we?"

Tristan nodded and Nicholas turned to Jarred, "Meiou brain activity regular again. Might wake up soon. Caution should be taken. Probability of confusion, very high for her. Stay and look out for her?"

Jarred nodded, "Sure, no problem. Update me when you get info."

"Certainly. Aware that Meiou is Albino… eyes might be sensitive to light. Turn off all lights or give contact lenses near bed to relieve photosensitivity. " Nicholas smiled and headed towards Liara's section on the ship.

As soon as Nicholas and Tristan left, however, the woman… Meiou, groaned. Jarred looked down to see her eyelids flicker open, but she grimaced at the harsh light that shined directly to her eyes. He quickly turned off the over-head light, and took the lenses Nicholas indicated. He carefully placed it on her eyes. The lenses made her eyes turn from red to violet, perhaps to darken the effects of the lights.

The woman… Meiou, sighed in relief. "Thank you." She said hoarsely, but as she looked closely at Jarred, her eyes widened, "Who are you?"

"My name is Jarred Vancair, I'm an N7 Operative." Jarred said as he watched her, "We… found you at an abandoned Cerberus base in Lesuss."

Meiou looked at him and turned her head slightly as she looked over his features, "And… what are you… exactly?"

He sighed, "I'm a turian-human hybrid. I know you didn't have people like me in your time…"

Her eyes widened, "My time?" She started to sit up, but Jarred pushed her down, "Hey! Hold still. You just woke up from cryo-stasis."

"Yes. I remember." She whispered, "What… what year is this, Jarred?"

The sound of his name on her lips made his eyes widen, and his breathing stopped for a second. "Uhm… it's 2217."

At this, Meiou's face paled. "2217… I've been… I've been asleep for fifty two years?!"


	10. Chapter 9

"I was… born on August 7th of 2145. My parents lived in San Francisco, California…"

Meiou took a gulp of water that Jarred had given her, nervously watching her audience. Jarred had alerted Nicholas and Tristan of her awakening, and they quickly rushed back to the Med Bay after talking to Liara. The asari went with them, and when word spread through the Normandy that the strange, white human had awakened, they gathered to the Board Room, and Jarred helped her get up there. She was seated in the front, and had her hands on her lap, blushing.

"Go on." Tristan said, and she nodded.

"I lived a very peaceful life in San Francisco. I was… pretty normal then, despite having Albinism. I went to school, I had friends. I loved to read and sing. It was bliss."

"But, when I turned 18, I… had a car crash." She closed her eyes as the memories flooded her once groggy brain. "We were driving home, after celebrating my 18th birthday. It was rainy, and… my father lost control of our skycar. There was a malfunction… he didn't know much about skycars. We hit a barricade on the side of the street. My… parents were instantly killed, and I got into a coma for three months. They said the impact almost turned my brain into mush and I had frequent brain bleeds, but I was able to hold on." A tear slid down her face, "Even though… with my parents dead… I didn't want to."

Jarred laid a hand on her shoulder, and Meiou dried her eyes and continued.

"When I woke up, I felt something… different. Like something in my head became open." She shrugged, "That was the first time I noticed that something in me was sort of unlocked. I reached out my hand for a glass of water, and it tumbled and spilled down to my blanket. It shocked me. I did it several times more on other stuff. The TV remote, the pillows, the blankets… I willed my mind to reach for it, and it would fly off into my hand. My doctor saw it, and was surprised. He…" She closed her eyes again, "He was a kind, elderly man. And he had heard about my parents. When I got well, he offered to have me live with him. He would study my abilities, and in return, he had a home and food for me. He never touched me in a bad way. He was just really kind. He took care of me and of everything my parents have left me with."

She swallowed, "Two years after, something happened. I was on my way home from the grocery, and when I got there, the…. Doctor was dead. He was shot. His blood was everywhere." She shook her head, "Some men came and grabbed me. I fought them off with my abilities. But somebody shot me, and I fell asleep."

"You were sedated." Amira said from her corner.

Meiou nodded, "Yes. When I woke up, I was in a room. Scientists were hovering all around me. They told me that if I cooperated, they would release me. I told them no, because they killed the doctor. But they were persistent. They… tortured me, to make me cooperative. They made me kill humans… criminals… using my ability. They ordered them to… 'take' me, and in my anger and fear, I would knock them away and suffocate them with just my thoughts."

"Damn… that's just messed up." Thanikah said.

She nodded again, "They… said something about an implant, which they installed in me. They said that it would make me stronger. I had gained the ability of 'biotics' and using them both, I was able to… kill faster. My powers became too strong for them. I started killing those who would enter my room. They began to grow afraid of me. They said the experiment is risky since I'm already a grown adult had a will of my own. They started experimenting… on children."

From behind the audience, Grunt and Samara exchanged glances.

"They brought in a young girl… around four years old, and other human children from around the colonies. They said that one of them… they called her Subject Zero, was strong, and that since it was a child, it would be much easier to manipulate them."

Grunt and Samara shook their heads.

"They told me I'll be moving into another facility, and they sedated me. I couldn't remember the trip. But I could hear them talking. They were saying something about a new project, of 'preserving me for future endeavors'. The next thing I knew, I was in that glass case. They were freezing me. I couldn't struggle because of the sedative. I wanted to scream but I couldn't. I felt my lungs fill with water. I felt myself getting colder and colder." She lowered her head, "I… blacked out then. Nightmares and dreams were all I had… until you found me."

It seemed like everybody released a breath, and Samara came forward. "I know of the child that was brought in. We called her 'Jack'." She said, pointing to Grunt, "She was with us during the battle against the Collectors. The place you were brought in was called the Teltin Facility in Pragia. It was… a place to improve biotic abilities. But they did inhumane things to the children there. Jack destroyed the facility during her time with us."

Meiou sighed, "I guess that's good." She shook her head, "I'm still in a slight bit of a shock…"

Tristan nodded, "It's understandable. You've been frozen for years, it's only normal to be in shock. Are you tired? I can have Jarred assist you."

But she shook her head, "I… want to stay."

But Jarred squeezed the hand on her shoulder gently, "You've already told us everything we need to know about that Cerberus base you were in. You should rest."

Liara nodded, "The information that Jarred gathered and your story made a lot of sense. That should be enough information for the Council." She smiled gently at her, "Do not worry. If we have to discuss anything else, we will wake you."

Meiou nodded and the crowd before her dispersed. She stood up gingerly, her legs still slightly weak. Jarred took her hand and brought her arm around him to help her walk. She blushed a beautiful shade of pink, "Thank you, Jarred."

"No problem." Jarred mumbled. He could feel his face getting a little warm, and he was thankful that his mandible covered his cheeks. "Do your legs hurt?"

"No." She answered, "It just feels weak. Perhaps once I have rested, I will start walking around again."

They passed by Thanikah, and although Meiou gave her a smile, she merely scowled and walked away. Meiou's eyes furrowed in confusion. She turned to Jarred, "Does she… hate me?"

He turned to where she was looking and saw the drell's retreating back. "No. She's just like that when she first meets new people." He pressed a button on the elevator and headed back to the crew deck. "And that assassin… it was a clone of the assassin that killed her grandfather years ago."

"I.. I see." Meiou said as Jarred helped her into one of the bunk beds in the crew deck. She lay down on it, and Jarred helped her as he pulled the blanket around her. Her body temperature had turned warm again since she woke up.

She sighed, "Fifty two years… so much time has gone by." She turned to Jarred, "Councilor Samara said she was with 'Jack'… she mentioned something about 'Collectors'. What are they?"

Jarred chuckled, "I think you're way too sleepy for a history lesson, Ms. Seishiro."

But she shook her head, "I am not sleepy. And also, there is so much time that I've lost. I wish to learn everything about what had happened during the time I was frozen." She smiled beautifully at Jarred, "And you can just call me Meiou."

Heat flushed around Jarred's face again, "Uhm… okay… Meiou." He coughed, "Where would you like me to start?"


	11. Chapter 10

"And then, here we are. We found you, and now you're here." Jarred said, "But…" He looked down and grinned as he noticed Meiou was sleeping. "You fell asleep during my story telling, so if you ask anything that I've already said, I won't explain it anymore."

Meiou replied with a small snore, and he chuckled. He wondered at which part of his story did she start to fall asleep. He rubbed the back of his neck as he shifted, before looking around.

The only person in the room was snoring, and Jarred decided it was perfectly private and he should be able to make a call. He opened up his OmniTool and pressed a code, and soon the video popped up on the screen.

"Should have realized you were calling soon." A familiar, flanging voice said, and it chuckled. "How are you, son?"

The screen showed a turian, his mandibles flaring a bit like a smile. He wore blue and black civilian clothes, and was sitting in front of what looked like a patio and a garage with a skycar. There was hint of grease on one mandible, while the other side had fading scars on it. Dark blue turian markings, almost similar to the ones on Jarred's face, was painted on his carapace.

"Hey, dad." Jarred said, his voice a little low, "I'm doing good. What are you up to?"

Jarred's father, the turian and soldier named Garrus Vakarian, pointed to the skycar, "Just fixing up the skycar, you know. You always complained it was slow. So I made a few… calibrations on it." He chuckled, "Your mom hated it, she said it was too fast, especially for our age."

Jarred grinned, "Yeah well, tell her I'll be the one to drive it. I'll buy you a different one when I get the chance."

"And risk getting my head chopped off? No. I don't think so." Garrus let out a loud laugh, "I'm going to calibrate this again, so the max speed can be minimized or maximized according to the driver's preferences. Haven't seen a skycar like that?"

He nodded, "That sounds good, dad. How's mom doing?"

At this, Garrus stretched out his arm, and a red-and-grey haired human woman with fading scars on her left cheek and blue turian markings on her face came into view, her green eyes softening at the sight of her child. "Jarred!" She exclaimed, laying down what looked like turian food on the table for Garrus. "How are you? You haven't contacted us for a month!" She pulled up a seat and sat down beside her husband so that both of their faces showed up on the screen.

"Things have been pretty busy, Mom." Jarred said, shifting to the side of his chair. "And… some bad things have happened."

Jane Shepard-Vakarian's eyes became worried. "We heard about it from Liara. I'm sorry about your team. I know it's hard, but they died for a cause. Even one as simple as destroying what's left of Cerberus."

"I know." Jarred sighed, "It was hard losing them, but Kaidan replaced my team with… people you might know."

Garrus smiled, "Yeah, I've heard Tali's daughter, Joker's son, and Thane's grand-daughter are with you."

Jarred returned his father's smile, "Don't forget Grunt and Liara."

At this, his parents laughed, "Oh, that'll be like having the old gang again." Garrus said, shaking his head. "With those people behind you, missions are going to be easy. "

Jane Shepard's face glanced something behind Jarred, "And… that woman behind you, Jarred? Is she part of your new team too?"

Jarred looked behind him to realize that the camera can see Meiou sleeping. He blocked his parents' view of the woman, "She's… uh… ahem… she was a person we picked up during a mission, Mom."

Garrus and Jane looked at each other, their eyebrows rising. Jarred already knew what was popping up in their heads, "No! Seriously! She's just someone we saved during a mission! She was being experimented on by Cerberus fifty two years ago! She was in a cryo-shell and…."

But Garrus merely smiled in understanding, "Tell us about it, son. It sounds like an interesting story."

Jarred sighed again. He had just finished talking his mouth off at Meiou, and now his parents wanted to hear everything too. But he merely shook his head and told them of the mission on Lesuss.

When he got to the point where he had been talking to Meiou and she finally fell asleep, his mother nodded. "Samara is a good asari to be on the Council. Although she had a violent run as a Justicar, she is very wise. She's been alive for over a thousand years, it's good to have her wisdom on the Council seat."

Jarred rubbed his throat. His voice was getting hoarse from all the talking. "Yeah. She… recognized me too. She said I was 'destined for greatness'."

Garrus laughed, and pointed at Jane, "Well, with the Saviors of the Galaxy as your parents, you should be great. But no pressure. We're just proud at how well we were able to raise you."

His heart filled with pride and love. "Thanks, Dad. But I was afraid that she would blurt out that my parents… the people who saved the Galaxy, were alive. Liara would get pissed if the galaxy found out that you guys are still around. Especially since she's the Shadow Broker, and she had to fend off all prying people who were out there looking for you."

Jane smiled, "I have faith in Liara's capabilities. We will not be found unless we show ourselves."

He nodded, "Yeah. Liara's pretty good at that. Anyway, I should go."

At this, Garrus and Jane laughed in harmony, "That was my line while I was there in the Normandy. And now, my son is using it." Jane said, shaking her head.

He smirked, "Yeah. I remember." He was about to end the call when he saw something on his OmniTool. "Wait! I forgot to tell you something."

"What is it?" Jane asked.

Jarred smiled sincerely, "Happy Mother's Day, Mom. I love you."

Jane's green eyes widened, and became moist with tears. She blew a kiss to her son, "Thank you, sweetheart. I love you, too." Garrus pushed his head up and kissed his wife on her cheek, before turning to his son. "We'll talk later, Jarred. Looks like Seishiro's been watching you."

His call with his parents closed as he turned, seeing Meiou sitting slightly up, looking at him, smiling.


	12. Chapter 11

"So… you're the son of the great Commander Jane Shepard and Garrus Vakarian." Meiou said as she sat up the bed.

Jarred sighed, "Yeah. But please…. Don't tell anyone. Everybody thinks they're dead. Even Liara made sure that they can never be found. Very few people know of that they're alive. So please… do not tell anyone. This must be a secret you must keep to your grave."

Something twinkled in Meiou's eyes. "You're… sharing a secret with me?"

There was something in her face that made her flush with pleasure, and Jarred was transfixed again. "Yes. Please…"

But Meiou merely nodded, and smiled beautifully at him. He felt his face flame as he thought of how beautiful she is. "Then I shall. Your family's secret is safe with me, Jarred. I know you will kill me if any of this got out."

Jarred exhaled in relief, as he turned to face his whole body towards her. "I won't kill you if it spills, but I will be very angry with you. Thanks… for understanding."

She nodded, "But… if I may ask, why are your parents hiding? You told me they were heroes. The Saviors of the Galaxy. If that is such a huge honor, why did they hide from it?"

"My parents have been fighting against the Reapers for years." Jarred said, "They tried really hard to get the Council to listen to them. But they didn't. It was too late when they allowed my Mom to muster all available fleets to battle for the galaxy. Many beings died before they did. Turians, Quarians, Drell, Humans, Salarians, Krogans… every species on the galaxy had some sort of casualty because of the Reaper War."

He looked down at his hands, "My mother was almost a casualty too, but she survived. When the war ended, they wanted to get away from everything. The critics. The honors. They… lost too many friends to call it a celebration." He mentioned to the upper floor, "Thanikah's grandfather, Thane, used to work with my parents during the time of the Seige of the Collector Base, and during the muster for the Reaper War. But he was killed due to his Kepral's Syndrome and being stabbed by the original Kai Leng. Nicholas considered the Salarian, Mordin Solus, as his father-figure (he's obsessed with him, I don't know why) but he died when he was curing the genophage to get help for my father's planet, Palaven. A geth named Legion sacrificed himself to help as well, it was only because of the quarians that the geth were restored."

Jarred stopped and ran his hand at the back of this head, looking tired. Meiou nodded, "They wanted to live in peace… for the rest of their days."

He nodded, "Yeah. Something like that. When I was born, my parents still wanted me to serve in the Alliance Military, and they made sure that I wouldn't be known as their child. They scrambled up my last name and respelled it so that no one will know. 'Vancair' is just a respelling of 'Vaankair'."

She nodded, "An anagram of Vakarian."

Jarred nodded at her finding out, but coughed a bit, "Man, I've been talking too much."

Meiou's face flushed pink again, "Oh my! I am sorry. It's just that… there are so many things I do not know… so much time has passed. I just wanted to know… everything." She bowed low, "I am sorry."

He looked at her, and looking at her apologetic face, he realized that she must be thinking that it was her fault. He shook his head and waved his arms in denial, "No! No! It's not your fault! I…" He sighed, "It's okay, really. It doesn't bother me."

Meiou looked down at her hands, still feeling guilty. As Jarred looked down her arms, he realized she was still wrapped up in a blanket, her chiffon dress still the only thing she was wearing. Her hair was still slightly wet, and it clung to her back. The skin in her arms had goose bumps on it, and she shivered slightly. He cursed at himself and pressed a hand on his ear.

"Thanikah? Amira? You there?" Jarred asked, Meiou looked up at him, her eyes glassy.

"Yeah. We're here." Amira said, "I'm talking to Thanikah right now. What's up?"

"Meiou still doesn't have an OmniTool." Jarred said, and Meiou looked down at her arm. "And can somebody do something about clothes for her? She's freezing."

"There's some Alliance Fatigues in the cargo hold, and I can fit her with an OmniTool if Tristan allows it. Want us to help her with that?" Amira said, and he heard Thanikah mutter something. "Actually, maybe I should get there myself."

Jarred's eyes furrowed, and he heard Thanikah mutter again, "What's wrong with Thanikah?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing!" But the lilt in Amira's voice made him unconvinced, "Anyway, I sent a message to Tristan. He said it's okay to fit her with an OmniTool. I'm headed to the cargo hold right now."

"Alright. We'll wait for you." Jarred said and lowered his hand. At Meiou's confused eyes, he smiled. "I'm having Amira install an OmniTool for you, so that if something confuses you, you can just use that and research anything you need."

She smiled, "Yes. That would be great. That way, you don't have to explain everything to me."

He waved it off, "Yeah, but… if something still confuses you, I don't mind if you ask me. I told you, it's okay."

The doors of the room opened, and Amira came in, looking a little bit breathless. "Whew. Something must've been clogging up my filters, I can't breathe very well. But I think it's the running that got to me." She raised up her hands, which had looked like red colored light armor on it. "I couldn't find any decent clothes, as it turns out the Alliance Fatigues in the cargo hold were reserved already. I talked with Thanikah, but she said she just had enough clothes for herself." She looked at Meiou, "I talked with Councilor Samara, and she said she was happy to give some of the clothes she had with her. She said she won't be needing it since she would be wearing asari gowns now as Councilor."

Amira came forward and lowered the garments on the bed, before taking Meiou's arm gently. The glowing eyes under her helmet crinkled as she smiled, "It's been a while since I installed an Omni-Tool on someone. It won't hurt, but since I'm an Engineer, you can imagine how much this makes me happy."

Meiou smiled in return, and it was so genuine that Amira giggled, "Yes. I can understand that. What model do you have for me… Amira?"

The young quarian nodded, and started installing the OmniTool in her arm. "This is a Zorah IX Omni-Tool… my mother developed it." She said proudly, "It'll be perfect for you."

"Thank you." Meiou said, and as Amira activated the Omni-Tool, she turned her arm around to look at it.

Amira sprang up and put her hands on her hips, "Yep! And now for the armor… and the hair probably, we need to keep it out of the way. But I honestly don't want to cut it, it's too pretty." She giggled, and turned, seeing Jarred by the doorway. "Excuse me, what are you doing here?"

Jarred looked at Amira, slightly confused, "I'm watching you guys."

Meiou chuckled, "I think Amira is implying that I change my clothes now, Jarred… but I can't do that with your presence here."

The turian-human looked up at the quarian, who was now tapping her foot impatiently. " Oh! Right… sorry." Jarred said as he started heading for the door. "I'll just… go."

"Yeah. You do that." Amira said, shaking her head as Meiou chuckled again, and the door closed behind him.


	13. Chapter 12

"Jarred. Tristan?" Liara entered the bridge, where Jarred, Tristan and Edison were talking. She held a datapad in her hand, and she looked worried. "There's something you should know."

Tristan's brows furrowed, and took the datapad from Liara. He looked at it, his eyes widening, and he looked at her. "Are you certain about this?"

She nodded, "I made calculations, even asked Nicholas to assist me in researching. It is inevitable."

"Why? What's going on?" Jarred asked as Tristan turned and headed to the Comm Room without as much as looking back at Jarred. He turned it on and typed, and soon the figure of his father, Kaidan appeared on screen.

Kaidan looked shocked at seeing his son, "Tristan. What's wrong?"

Tristan held up the datapad, "Liara just gave me some worrying news. Our Sun is about to have a major solar flare… enough to destroy Earth and all colonies near it. "

Jarred's eyes widened, and he held out his hand to Tristan for the datapad. The Commander gave it to him, and he read it. He felt his breath got knocked out of his throat, "It says here that it'll only last a few seconds, but it'll be enough to kill all those in the surrounding areas."

Kaidan's eyes furrowed with worry, "I'll need all the data that Liara gave you, and tell it to the Council. I will consult with the quarian engineers as well, maybe they can come up with something."

"What can we do?" Tristan asked.

"Head back here to the Citadel." Kaidan said, "You have not been given a new mission yet. But if what you're saying is true… and I am sure it is since Liara and Nicholas did all the calculations… then we need all the best minds on this. Tali's daughter included." He nodded to his son, "I have to go now. I'll see you when you get here. Alenko out."

Kaidan's figure faded, and Tristan and Jarred looked at each other. "If this thing is true, then all life around the system will die."

Tristan nodded, "Yes. We'd better head to the Citadel." He pressed on his earpiece, "Edison, get us as fast as you can to the Citadel."

"Yes, Commander. ETA: five minutes." Edison's voice crackled from the Comm.

"Officer Vancair" EDI's voice sounded from his ears, "Engineer Amira has relayed a message that Ms. Seishiro is ready. They are currently located at the Portside Observation."

He sighed, "Alright. I'll be right there."

Tristan nodded to him, and Jarred headed down to the Portside Observation, where Amira said she'd just finished clothing Meiou. He opened the door, and he saw Amira's back towards him, holding the tip of Meiou's hair in her hand.

"Hey, Jarred!" Amira said cheerfully, as she tied what looked like a red and white ribbon to the end of Meiou's hair, pinning it up to her scalp. "And… there! She's ready! You can stand up now, Meiou."

Amira stepped to the side, showing Meiou's back, as she sat on a chair. As she shyly stood up, Jarred saw the dip of her waist, the width of her hips, and the slenderness of her legs. As she turned, he felt his face flame.

Meiou wore a red, fitted light armor and boots, with golden accents over a black body suit. The shoulder pads were slightly thick, but it fitted as it went down her slender arms. However, it was the front of it that made it slightly uncomfortable for him. The neckline of the armor went down to her chest, leaving an opening that showed off the lightness of her skin on her chest. She was… ample enough to fill the armor, and Jarred felt like pulling on the cowl of his neck. A choker of gold made it even harder for him to focus, as it accented the lightness of the skin on her chest. Amira had braided Meiou's long hair, and it was pinned up to the top of her head, with stray locks framing her face. Her face flushed pink with embarrassment as she faced him.

"That was my old armor." A voice said behind him, and Justicar Samara came forward from behind him and looked over Meiou, pulling the armor at her arms and shoulders. "I can sense that you are a very powerful biotic… perhaps much powerful than I am. This armor shall serve as your reminder that you are a strong woman, worthy of being a friend of Councilor Samara." She smiled at Meiou, "I hope you'll wear it with pride."

Meiou smiled shyly, "I do not know if it fits me well, but…" she looked at the Councilor, her eyes shining with admiration, "I have… read all about you, Councilor Samara. You did many amazing things during your term as a Justicar. If that is your wish for me… if that is what you believe is what I can achieve, then… I shall wear it well."

"You wear it pretty well enough." Jarred blinked, realizing his though came out, and he blushed furiously as Meiou's face turned pink even more, and Samara's knowing smile came to him. He coughed, "We're on our way back to the Citadel. Admiral Alenko said that we're needed there. Councilor Samara, even though it is your first time as the Asari Councilor, a great test is about to come to you."

Samara's eyes furrowed, "What do you mean?"

Jarred sighed, "Dr. T'Soni… Liara… she found out that the Sun is about to give out a massive solar flare. Enough to reach Earth and dry up all living organisms on its surface, and all colonies surrounding it." He pointed to the upper deck, where the bridge is, "Tristan already notified the Council. Once we get there, we'll be able to decide what to do."

The three women's eyes widened at this, and Meiou clutched a hand to her heart. A panicked look came to her face, and he swallowed. He wished he could comfort her, but he's getting scared as well. His parents do live in Earth, after all.

"Jarred." Edison's voice sounded from the InterCom.

"Yeah. I'm here." Jarred said.

"We're nearing the Citadel. Tristan said you should bring Samara, Amira and Meiou to the Council." Jarred nodded to Amira, "You guys might want to get ready. We're almost there."

"Of course. I'll go there now." And Amira left, half-running back to the deck, and Samara followed her, "I'll go talk to Tristan and Liara, I need to know more about this."

Jarred and Meiou were left in the room, and Meiou turned her back to him, gazing at a giant window in the cabin, showing the vast expanse of the galaxy. He watched her as she took deep breaths, and he had to keep his eyes focused on her head… rather than to other parts of her… rear anatomy. He felt his face flame again, and he walked towards her. "What are you thinking about?"

"Earth." Meiou answered, "A long time ago, humans always worried about the Apocalypse… the end of the world. Maybe this is supposed to be the year for it."

He shook his head, "No. I think there must be something technological we can do to stop it." He smiled, "And, for the record, after what's happened during the past fifty two years, I think all the humans thought of The End during the time of the Reapers."

"Perhaps. You did not exist during that time, and I… was asleep." Meiou said.

"True. But from the vids my parents made me watch when I was younger, it really did felt like the world was ending. And not just the world, but the whole galaxy as well." He tapped the side of his head, "My father had a visor, he almost never took it off. It recorded all the stuff he and my mother had to endure during the Reaper Wars. Watching it… was like seeing everything myself." He shook his head, "It was… hard. But, they got through it." He turned to her and smiled, "Maybe we'll get through this, too."

Meiou smiled back, "Maybe." She looked back to the stars through the window, "I'm sure… everyone I ever knew on Earth would be dead. I may not have anyone on Earth anymore, but I still want to save it." She turned and looked at Jarred, her eyes determined, "I don't know what I can do, or how I can help… but, if you need me, I'll be here."

Her violet eyes held fear in them, but he could see she was doing her best to be brave. Even though her eyes were eerily-colored, they were warm and trusting. He raised a hand and wiped a tear on the corner of her eye that was threatening to spill. She was desperately trying hard to make up for the time she had been kept. He smiled gently at her, "I know you are…"

The door of the cabin opened, and Jarred turned to see Thanikah. Her face hardened at the sight of Jarred, his hand on Meiou's cheek, her hands almost reaching up to his shoulder. Meiou blushed, and lowered her eyes, turning her face away from Jarred's hand. She turned and quietly left the room, keeping her gaze averted from Thanikah. "I'll head over to Tristan now. Edison said he needed me with him to the Citadel."

Jarred watched her leave before stepping towards the drell. "You need something, Thanikah?"

The woman's cold glare turned to Jarred, and her voice was low when she spoke. "We're at the Citadel. Tristan just wanted to call the 'human' to the shuttle to go with him, along with Amira and Samara. They'll be heading straight to the Council."

Jarred scowled, "She has a name. Her name is Meiou Seishiro."

Thanikah scoffed as she walked away, "Whatever."

Jarred's scowl got darker as his hands fisted. But he took a deep breath. Thanikah had been a good friend to him, but she does become cruel and sarcastic sometimes. It was his patience that held them together for so long.

It did puzzle him that his patience with her thinned so easily when she called Meiou 'human'… and the voice she used… it was like she was placing the girl in a level lower than dirt. Like she was useless. He felt a growl rise up his throat, but he blinked. Since when had he ever been protective of a female human?

He was confusing himself.

He sighed and scratched his head, and started walking towards the shuttle bay.


	14. Chapter 13

Kaidan crossed his arms on his chest, as he and the other Councilors watched the re-enactment of the solar flare on the giant hologram Liara created. Jarred and everyone continued to watch as the orb representing the sun began flaring, growing brighter and brighter, and then suddenly, there was a strong flare and a huge flash. Everyone either stepped back, or gasped.

"Holy…" Kaidan muttered, as everyone calmed down. "It's going to be that strong?"

Even Liara blinked, but she straightened and looked up at Kaidan, "Yes. Yes, it'll be very strong. It won't happen until a month from now, but the flare will be… catastrophic."

Jarred's brows furrowed, as he looked down, "Even with underground bunkers, it won't be enough. The heat would be so intense that it'll reach several hundred feet underground."

Mordin laid a hand on her chin, "And with so many people on Earth, there might not be enough time to save them, or ships to transport them."

Nicholas nodded, "Solar flare would also reach other colonies, particularly near Earth. Containment only method of saving everyone."

Thanikah scoffed, "And how do you proposing to do that? It would take some time to build something to contain the Sun."

Amira and Tali shook their head, "If Liara is right, it's going to happen in a month. If the machines are small, and wide-spread, it could contain it. And it'll be easier to and faster to spread." Amira said, "Maybe a Mass Effect field? Or a biotic field?"

"A biotic field? That large?" Samara looked at the two quarians, "I could barely hold my barriers when we entered that Collector Base years ago. It would take someone of great biotic talent to make a barrier that large."

Meiou was staring at the model, her eyebrows furrowed. She raised a hand and stroked the hair that fell on her shoulder, twisting it around as she bit her lip. Jarred noticed the action, and he nudged her. "What are you doing?" he whispered.

"Thinking." She said, "Twirling my hair makes me concentrate. I don't know… it's something I've done since I was a child." She kept twirling it, and suddenly her eyes widened. She turned to Tristan and touched his shoulder. "Tristan, I think I have an idea…"

"Then you'd better tell them that." Tristan said to her, and he smiled, "You don't have to be shy."

"But…"

Tristan came forward and pulled her gently towards the view of the Council. "Excuse me, but this woman said she had an idea."

The Councilors looked at her and she blushed shyly. Tali chuckled, "Don't worry, we won't bite. We have already read about you, Miss Seishiro. If you think you have idea on this, we would be happy to hear it."

The woman nodded, "I was thinking of… the Mass Relays, and the Shroud in Tuchanka." She said shyly, "Both are able to transmit energy to a large area. If I'm not mistaken, it was the mass relays that spread the energy to destroy the Reapers, when Commander Shepard activated the Crucible." She raised a hand and typed something on her brand new OmniTool, earning a raised brow from Jarred and Amira. It seemed that she got the hang of the technology easily.

The model of the sun became surrounded with what looked like Mass Relays, and a representation of the Shroud. "I've heard that the Shroud could transmit to a large area. Perhaps, if a biotic had enough energy, she could use the Shroud as a sort of amplifier, and the 'mass relays' to spread her energy." She pressed a button again, and the 'Shroud' miniature began emitting a biotic energy ray, making it spread to the mass relays, which created a chain effect, spreading towards other relays, until it completely enclosed the sun in blue light.

Thanikah raised a brow, and Tristan turned to Liara, "Is that possible?"

Liara bent down on her OmniTool, doing calculations, and Nicholas did the same with his. Liara nodded, "Yes. It's possible."

"Mass Relays needed can be constructed with lesser size, but still effective. " Nicholas said, "Shroud technology still in Tuchanka, but would be hard to retrieve due to damage. Hypothesis very possible. But need biotic with very strong biotic ability." He looked at Councilor Samara, "Asari biotic field covers several feet, but need someone stronger. Can produce biotic field with several square meters if possible."

"I can do it." Meiou said suddenly, and all of them looked at her. "I've done it at Teltin. But… it would take me a lot of energy and strength to do it."

Samara smiled, "Then show us, child."

Meiou nodded, her face becoming determined, and she closed her eyes. Blue biotic energy began to envelop her. A small biotic shield enveloped them as she concentrated, and she raised her hands up, her face looking up as well. The shield expanded even more, and became wider and wider and wider. Jarred looked at her, and she was barely cringing.

Kaidan raised a hand to his ear, "Calling C-Sec agents, we have a human here who is testing the limits of her biotic abilities. Update me on how far she's expanding her shield."

"See if you can expand it more, Meiou." Samara said encouragingly, the other Councilors leaning over their consoles to look at her.

She gave a small nod, and spread her arms, pushing more at her barriers. They cannot see the barriers in the room anymore, but Kaidan was pressing a finger in his ear, hearing reports of a blue biotic shield passing the Citadel's C-Sec agents as she pushed.

Suddenly, Meiou began to float, slowly, the toes of her boots lifting from the floor, inching higher and higher. Jarred's mouth fell open at the sight, and Samara nodded her approval.

Nicholas' eyes blinked and he nodded, "Aah. I see! L3 Implants make biotic and telekinetic abilities stronger, with lesser effort! Ingenius!"

Meiou was floating over them now, her biotic shield spreading farther and farther, beyond the room's walls. But she was straining now, her eyebrows furrowing, and sweat was starting to bead down her face. She was gritting her teeth, and her breath was coming in short pants.

"Harder!" Samara shouted, and Jarred turned to the asari. But she was smiling encouragingly at the girl.

"Ugh…" Meiou moaned, and she opened her eyes. But biotic light emitted from it. She shouted, and pushed her barrier some more.

Kaidan's eyes widened as a last report came in, and he looked at her, "Meiou… has a barrier around the whole Citadel…"

All of them stared at young girl floating in front of them, even Thanikah's mouth was open in disbelief. Samara smiled, "She is as I expected, and more."

Meiou let out a shout, and her biotic barrier shrank back. She groaned and started to fall through the air, but Jarred jumped, and caught her in his arms. "Meiou!" Jarred shouted at her, her face pale and sweat dripping down her face. She looked at him weakly and smiled, "I'm fine. Just… exhausted."

He nodded and stood, placing her arm around his shoulder to help her up. She was limp and tired, but she smiled weakly at the Council. "I told you… I could… do it." She panted. But somewhere behind him, Jarred heard a little scoff. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Thanikah cross her arms on her chest, frowning.

The six Council members looked at each other, and they all smiled, Samara wider than the others. "I guess that settles it." Urdnot Mordin said, "We'll go ahead with the plan."

Tristan nodded, "Grunt can help us get to Tuchanka. I'll be taking Meiou and Jarred with me. We can get the technology from the Shroud. Thanikah and Amira can help with the Relays."

Nicholas was quiet for a minute, but he looked up at the Krogan Councilor. "Want to go to Tuchanka too."

Kaidan raised an eyebrow, "Nicholas…"

"Mordin Solus… is inspiration. Died before I was born, but always loved his work,." Nicholas said, and he looked down, "Want to find… want to know… if genophage cure was worth death."

Urdnot Mordin looked down at him, her eyes softening under her krogan cloak. "I was named after him… my father's idea of a joke, probably. But it was also an honor. If not for him, I would not have been alive. He was brave, to give his life up for us. As I understand, he was not given a proper funeral. Talk to my brother, Urdnot Shepard, and to my parents as well."

Kaidan looked at Tristan, who nodded in agreement, before turning to Nicholas, "Alright, you can head to Tuchanka. But when you've found what you're… looking for, head back here and help Amira and Thanikah with the plan."

Nicholas nodded, "Certainly. Will assist in creation of Biotic Relays once returned from Tuchanka."

Victus looked around them, "All right. We all know what to do. This meeting is adjourned."

The Council left to return to their offices, except Councilor Samara, who came to them, and the crew rounded to her. Jarred still held Meiou to his chest, but her face was blushing furiously. She pushed a little at him, and he let her go so she could stand on her own. Thanikah scowled again.

"Meiou." Samara said, and the girl she called looked at her, "You need to be trained. Your biotics are powerful, but your stamina needs improvement." She pointed to the consoles the Council unoccupied, "As much as I wish I could train you myself, I am bound by my duties as a Councilor. But I know someone who could help you."

"Who is it?" Tristan asked.

"Find Jacqueline Nought… or as we used to call her, Jack. She is a teacher in Grissom Academy."

Meiou blinked, "Jack? The biotic from the Teltin Facility?"

Samara nodded, "Yes. She was an ally of mine during the siege of the Collector Base. She is very powerful, and can teach you well. Do not worry, she will not hurt you… I think."

The girl's eyes widened with fear, but she swallowed and nodded. Samara smiled at her and laid a hand on her shoulder, "You will be magnificent, Meiou." And she headed back to the Council offices.

The crew turned to Tristan then, and he noticed that Thanikah looked annoyed. "Something on your mind, Thanikah?"

"Why should I have to go with the tech stuff while you guys go battling out there?" The drell seethed at the Commander.

"Because you're smart, and you're a Sentinel. You should know stuff about tech and biotics. Your biotics could help with the creation of the mass relays since they use that to see if the plan works." Tristan shrugged, "Besides, we'll just be doing some exploring. It's not like there's anything to kill out there. You'll be more useful helping Amira with the Project."

Grunt chuckled, "Unless we run into a Thresher Maw. Here's to hoping."

Jarred shuddered, "Please, no thresher maws. I hate those things."

Thanikah sighed, "Fine. Fine. I'll be all nice and do what you ordered…" She glared at Tristan and Jarred. "See you when I get back, _Commander._"

There was a sarcastic tone in her voice that made Jarred's brow plates furrow and he turned to Amira, "What's wrong with her?"

The quarian shrugged, "Oh… it's… um… nothing." She looked at Thanikah's retreating back and looked at Jarred, "Hey, Jarred! I thought I saw the scope you wanted in a Presidium store! Wanna go buy it before we go?"

Jarred's hearing perked up at the word 'scope' and his eyes brightened, "You did?! Oh, hell yeah! Let's go buy it." He looked down at Meiou, who was now steadily standing despite her fatigue, "Can I go?"

Meiou's eyebrow raised and she laughed, "Why do you need to ask me that, Jarred? I am not your keeper. Go ask your commander."

Jarred blinked when he noticed it, and he looked up at Tristan, who had crossed his arms and was smirking at him. "Oh… er… right." He said, scratching his hair at the back of his head, "So… I can go, Tristan?"

Tristan shook his head, laughing but he nodded, "Sure, just don't take too long."

Jarred grinned widely, and he took Amira's hand and started pulling the unsuspecting quarian to the Presidium. "Take care of Meiou while I'm gone, okay?!" He shouted as they ran.

Tristan shook his head again, before turning to Meiou, who was smiling at the two as she watched them go. She looked at him, and he offered his hand, which she took. He took her arm and wound it in his, escorting her back to the Normandy as they walked.

"Jarred seems like a fan of sniper rifles." Meiou said as they walked, with Grunt, Liara and Nicholas in front of them, talking.

Tristan laughed, "I've known Jarred since I was a kid. We grew up together… the four of us. Amira, Jarred, Edison and I… our parents were close friends. He's been obsessed with guns since he was six years old, and learned to fire his first pistol at seven. He's the best marksman I've ever known."

She looked up at him, "Is that the reason why he's in your crew?"

He nodded, "Yes, and the fact that he knows the Normandy more than anyone." He looked down at her, "I know about his parents. My father helped them disappear from the radar a long time ago. Councilor Tali and Liara helped as well. I know that he told you about them. He seems to really trust you."

Meiou ducked her head and blushed, and Tristan smiled. "Jarred… used to be rather cold. His turian-human attributes made it hard for him in Military School. A lot of other students didn't like him because of his 'half-breed' status. But he worked hard and graduated to the top of the class."

"That must've shut up all those who hate him." She said with a smile.

Tristan laughed again, "It sure did." They stopped by the elevators heading down to the docks. Tristan pressed a button, and smiled down at her. "Jarred worked really hard on what he has accomplished today, that sometimes he tends to forget some of the greater things in life."

"Greater things?"

"Fun… happiness…" Tristan looked down at her, his smile knowing, "Love."

When he said the last word, Meiou's face flamed. "He has never loved anyone?"

Tristan shrugged as he looked up at the elevator, "He loves his parents, his friends… but as for a female companion, no. He was too busy making his parents proud and pissing off those who thought of him as nothing but a half-breed." He looked down at her again, smiling gently, "I've seen the way he looks at you, the way he holds you. He really likes you, Meiou."

At this, Meiou's face felt like burning, so she lowered her gaze. "I do not know what you mean, Commander."

The doors opened then and they stepped inside. Luckily it was empty. "Perhaps. Maybe one day he will… if he gets the courage to see it. Or if you have the courage to say it first."

Meiou kept her gaze lowered, and she was silent. But from the way she was twirling her hair with her fingers, Tristan knew she was thinking about it. He smiled to himself, knowing that he had just played wing-man to his best friend.


	15. Chapter 14

Amira continued to watch Jarred as he fitted the new scope he had bought for his rifle, his eyes gleaming in excitement. The glass of Turi-Juice (A dextro-amino juicing company in the Citadel) sat in front of him, still very much full, while Amira's glass was almost finished. She put her chin on her hand, and leaned towards Jarred. "Jarred."

The turian-human looked up, his eyes still excited, but finally noticing he had company. "Yeah?"

"I know you're excited to try it out and everything." Amira said, "But you haven't touched your Turi-Juice and you know we still have a mission to do."

Jarred blinked, and looked ashamed, "Oh right… er… sorry." He holstered his sniper rifle and took his juice, sucking it down till it was half-empty.

Amira watched him as he drank, and he felt self-conscious, "Why are you staring at me?"

The quarian shrugged, "Oh, it's nothing. I was just thinking… about how we've been friends for such a long time. You, me, Edison, and Tristan… even Thanikah."

Jarred blinked, but he smiled at her, "Yeah. It's been ages. I still can't believe we've been friends for so long."

Amira nodded, and she leaned over to him again, "And yet… you don't seem interested in me or Thanikah. Why is that?"

An eyebrow plate raised, "Interested? How do you mean?"

"It's just that you never seem to look at us as… you know… female." Amira said.

Jarred blinked, and he chuckled, "Amira, we're friends. Of course, I still think of you guys as females, but…" He stopped a bit, "Maybe I'm just not that… attracted to you guys."

Under her helmet, Amira blinked, "You mean you don't think that I'm attractive?" she said, sounding hurt.

Jarred raised his hands and waved them in denial, "No! Not like that! It's… ugh…" Jarred smacked a hand on his forehead. "Look, you're my friends. Me and Tristan are a few years older than you. I treat you guys like my younger siblings, that's all. My parents never got the chance to get another turian-human baby, considering what conceiving me did to my mother's health when I was born." He shrugged, "You and Thanikah are like my younger sisters, Edison is like my younger brother, and Tristan is my twin… sort of." He chuckled, but then he blinked, "Wait… what? Are you telling me you… like me, Amira?"

The quarian scoffed, "Puh-leaze. I am not like my mother who watches 'Fleet and Flotilla' every week and loves turians to death." She said, sipping a straw through a slot in her helmet.

"Then who…?" Jarred said, and then he nodded, "Ah… I see. Thanikah."

Amira almost coughed out her juice, which would've been bad for her helmet, "No! No! It has nothing to do with Thanikah!"

But Jarred scoffed, "Yeah right. That girl's been giving me a death stare ever since Lesuss. If biotics could form daggers using their eyes, I would've been dead for now." He smirked at Amira, his mandibles flaring a bit. "You can't fool me, Amira. Did she make you ask me that?"

Amira sighed in defeat, "No." She answered, "But she's been plaguing me about that. You're all she talks about. Especially now, with that human always beside you…" She giggled, "That girl, Meiou… she really likes you, you know."

Jarred's smirked, and then laughed out loud, "Can't imagine Thanikah getting all jealous. But I guess she is." He shook his head and fiddled with the straw on his drink, "Yeah… well… Meiou is kind of pretty for a human."

"You like her, don't you?"

He looked up at Amira, who was leaning close, the glow in her eyes through the helmet smiling a bit. He coughed, "Nah. No. I mean, she's pretty and all but… she's human, for Spirit's sakes!"

"Well, you're half-human. Why should it be so bad to like her?" Amira said with a shrug. "You are pretty awesome, Jarred. Any girl would be a fool to pass you up." She laughed, "But I guess I am a fool. You're not really my type, Jarred."

Jarred threw back his head and laughed, "Well, sorry I'm not up to your expectations, Amira." He grinned at her and placed his arms on the table, his other hand under his chin, an action that made Amira laugh because he looked like a female that seemed to be interested in gossip. "So what is your type?"

Amira giggled at him, before placing a finger on her chin like she was thinking. "Well… I want someone strong and resolved. Who makes really good decisions and someone who stands by his opinions. A great leader, and with a form that could make me drool…"

His eyebrow plate raised, "Hmm… that sounds surprisingly like Tristan."

She looked at him, and Jarred's grin turned wicked. The quarian's eyes widened under her helmet. "That's… that… stupid! No! I can't 'like' Tristan! Not like that! I mean…"

"Why the heck not?" Jarred said, shrugging, "He's a good guy. One of the best damn commanders in our fleet." He grinned again, "You'd be a fool to pass up a man like him."

Amira squirmed, but she reached out and smacked Jarred in the arm. "You! You keep teasing me!"

He laughed, "Yeah, well… sorry about that." He leaned over to her and whispered, "Tell you what… I'll help you with Tristan, and you help me with Meiou."

Amira's voice sputtered, "That's just… you're… we can't…!"

But Jarred merely stood up from his seat, draining his drink, and laughed, "I'll take that as a yes."

The turian-human ran for his life, as the quarian behind him tried to catch him, trying to smack his arm.


	16. Chapter 15

Meiou was standing beside Tristan and Edison by the galaxy map, watching in wonder as the swirling representation of the galaxy blinked before her. Thanikah was on the other side of the map, watching her, her arms crossed at her chest. Jarred and Amira came forward, the turian-human laughing while the quarian repeatedly smacked his arm.

Tristan smiled as they came in, "Anything I should know about? Looks like Amira's beating you senseless, Jarred."

Jarred smiled, "Nah. It's nothing, Tristan." Amira smacked him the last time, and he laughed. "Just teasing Amira a little bit."

"Well, don't tease her too much. Our mission would fail horribly if we don't have one of the best quarian engineers working on this." Tristan said as he turned his attention back to the galaxy map.

Meiou looked behind her and watched the two of them, and Amira returned to smacking Jarred in the arm, as the turian-human nudged at her teasingly. He caught her gaze, and he made an action where he pointed at Amira and Tristan, before putting his two fingers together and holding his heart, making an amusing action of looking at Tristan with adoration on his face. She stifled a giggle, and Amira smacked him in the arm again.

Liara came in then, with Grunt behind her, holding a data pad, "Is everybody back?"

"Yes." Tristan answered, "Nicholas is in the Med Bay, but he said he's ready to go when we get to Tuchanka."

Liara nodded, "The Council has approved the plan. Thanikah, Amira and I will stay behind to build the 'Biotic' Relays. Nicholas will follow once you've gotten the technology from the Shroud."

Tristan nodded, "Yes. I'll be taking Jarred, Meiou, Grunt and Nicholas with me." He held up a datapad, "Councilor Samara contacted me a minute ago. She has contacted the Grissom Academy about teaching Meiou biotics. They have arranged Meiou to be taught by Jack personally."

He looked at everyone, "All right. We all have our assignments. Let's go."

"Jarred." Thanikah called out, "Can you help us with our luggage? Amira's got a hell lot of mechanical stuff in our cabin."

Jarred blinked, and looked down at Amira, who shrugged. But she smacked his arm again. "I'll be heading out now, don't try to break any of my stuff, Jarred."

He sighed and nodded. It was probably Thanikah's way of getting him alone. He looked back at Meiou to see that she was on her way back to the elevator, and Thanikah followed her. He had no choice but head into the elevator with the two women.

Meiou noticed them come in, and she dropped her gaze, looking down at her shoes. Thanikah merely crossed her arms and pressed the button as they came in. Jarred looked back to see the human look at the drell's boots.

"Thanikah." Meiou said quietly.

"What?" Something in Thanikah's voice made her sound annoyed, and Jarred had to steel himself to prevent her from elbowing her.

"Is that a pair of Karnal 2205 Autumn Collection boots?"

Thanikah blinked, and looked down at the human, "How did you know?"

She was still shyly looking down at the floor, "I saw it when I was looking for an outfit. I know Justicar Samara gave me these clothes, but I am not that comfortable with it. I was looking for shoes when I saw Karnal's extranet address." She looked up at the woman, "Your shoes are Karnal 2205 Autumn Collection boots… the Starlet, named after the star emblem embedded on the tips of the heels."

Jarred saw Thanikah's lips curl a little to a very small smile, "I… the Justicar's clothes do fit you, but the red doesn't seem for fit you now since your lenses make your eyes seem like they're violet. Maybe you should consider changing the color to violet or black." She lowered her arms and stood behind Meiou, pressing a button near her upper neck, before activating her Omni-Tool. "There's a switch here that allows the clothes to change color. Here."

Meiou's clothes changed color, from red and gold to violet with gold trimmings. It worked well with her look, and Jarred gulped at how it made her even more beautiful. Meiou smiled shyly, "Thank you. I didn't know about that."

Thanikah chuckled before she blinked and realized what she was doing. A hard look came into her face again before she stepped away from her, "You might want to get rid of that ribbon on your hair though, it clashes with the color." And the doors of the Crew Deck opened, and Thanikah quickly strode out.

Jarred looked down at Meiou, who raised her violet eyes at him again, shrugging, but soon she stepped out as well and headed for the Portside Observation. Jarred ran to catch up with Thanikah, who was half-way to the Cargo Hold.

"Hey!" Jarred shouted as he caught her and grabbed her arm. "What is your problem?!"

Thanikah blinked, "Nothing! I have no problem at all!"

"Then why are you treating Meiou like she's trash?" Jarred said, his voice rising a bit, but he saw that the crew was looking at them, he lowered his voice. "What did she ever do to you that made you mad at her?"

At this the drell blinked and fell silent. Finally she answered. "I really… have no idea."

Jarred sighed, "Thanikah. Be honest with me." He stood in front of her, his arms crossed to his chest, "Are you mad at her because you're jealous? Don't lie."

She looked up at him, her eyes unreadable, but she blinked, her eyes moving in rapid movements as if she was looking at something. Jarred knew what it was. It was her eidetic memory. As a drell, she was able to relive any moment in her life. Jarred didn't like that trait of hers, as she often points out things she remembered about them, particularly the embarrassing ones.

Thanikah began speaking, "_He stands beside me, saluting, looking at Tristan in fierce determination. Voices whispers behind me. Mocking. Insulting. Furious. Disgusted. 'Mutant. Unnatural. Turian-human. Never pure. Useless. Never a turian. Never a human.' So many voices. Tristan shoots a gun. The boy runs. He was fast, like the wind itself. He jumps, climbs, crawls, shoots. So quickly. He was amazing. He reached the finish line. Five exercises. Two minutes, thirty-four seconds, sixteen milliseconds. All soldiers behind us, gaping in surprise. Their voices silenced."_

She blinked, returning to the present, before placing a hand on her forehead. "I guess… yeah. I was jealous. We've been through a lot together. And I… really liked you." She blinked again, and began speaking from her memory. "_So tired. Wanted to rest. Jarred sat beside me. The smell of sweat and electricity floats through the air. He looks down at me. Smiles. He places a hand on my face and pulls my head to his shoulder. So warm, even with armor. And I slept."_

Thanikah returned to herself, and shook her head. "I'm sorry. It was wrong of me to be such a bitch towards her. I just… didn't like the way you two were touching and everything."

Jarred sighed and looked at her, "Look, Thanikah… I…" He placed his hands on her shoulders, "I like you too, but not the way you want me to. You're right, we've been together a lot. But I treat you as a friend, almost like a sister. The same way I treat Amira. I don't think I can be anymore than that to you."

The drell nodded, "Yeah. I figured it was something like that. I'm sorry." She shrugged, "I'll try to be nicer to her, and…"

He shook his head, "No, Thanikah. I should be the one to say sorry. You just told me you liked me, and… I'm sorry. It's not that you're not my type, it's that I've always thought of you as Thanikah, my awesomely smart friend who would beat me at stealth any day of the week and the only person to smack me up the head when I do something stupid." Thanikah laughed at this, relaxing. "Anyway, I'm really sorry."

But Thanikah waved off his apology, "Don't be stupid. You can't apologize for something you didn't do. I told you I liked you, and you told me the truth about what you feel." She reached out a finger and poked him on the carapace on his forehead, "You should never apologize for saying the truth about what you feel, Jarred."

He nodded and smiled, but she still looked uncomfortable. She looked up at him, "But since you're being honest… tell me the truth, Jarred? Do you like Meiou?"

Jarred blinked, and he let go of her to scratch his head, "Uhm… ugh… this is really uncomfortable." Thanikah giggled but Jarred shrugged, "I don't know yet. We just met her a few days ago. But… she's really pretty, and nice and powerful. And there's… just something about her. I just can't explain it."

Thanikah smirked, "If that's how you put it, it seems to me like she got you bad."

Jarred's brow plates raised, "D'you… d'you think so?"

At this the drell laughed, "Jarred's in love. Sheesh. I never thought I'd see the day." Jarred blushed hotly under his mandibles, and Thanikah sobered, "If you like her that much, Jarred. Then maybe you should try going after her. She does seem like she's into you. What's the worst that could happen?"

Jarred shrugged, "That she'd reject me?"

She scoffed, "Rejection is a part of life, Jarred. I just got rejected by you. You don't see me being too torn up about it."

He blinked, "Sorry about that… but yeah, I guess you're right."

"Then go get her, tiger." Thanikah said, pushing him out, "I'll take care of Amira's things, but you'd better get to Meiou. If this mission is as dangerous as it seem, then you shouldn't waste too much time dwelling on 'what ifs'."

Jarred smiled at her, and he came forward and hugged Thanikah. She blinked, surprised, but she smiled and held on to her friend. "Thanks, Nika."

She nodded, and then she pushed him off roughly, raising her foot as if to kick his armored butt. "Git! I'll see you when this is all over."

Jarred laughed and ran out the door, "I'll make it up to you with a chocolate shake when we're done, Nika!" And he was gone.

As the turian-human left, Thanikah turned around, and covered a hand to her lips. The hurt bubbled up from inside her, and tears started falling down her eyes. She let go of her sadness, crying till she fell to her knees to the floor, as she helped the man she loved go after another woman.


	17. Chapter 16

Jarred, Meiou, Tristan, Grunt and Nicholas sat in the shuttle, quiet as they entered Tuchanka's atmosphere. Meiou had been twirling the end of her braid, which meant to Jarred that she was thinking deeply. Nicholas was fiddling around his OmniTool, looking at something, but his face was unreadable.

Finally, after the uncomfortable silence, the shuttle landed on Tuchanka's dock, and they all stepped out. A dark red krogan met with them, "Commander Alenko. Grunt. It's good to see you again."

The krogan named Urdnot Shepard took Tristan's hand, and shook it, before tapping Grunt's shoulder. "Father has been looking for you, Grunt. You'd better get over the throne room and report to him."

"We will all go." Tristan said, and Shepard nodded as he pointed to the direction.

"Liara already contacted me. She said you wanted to look over the Shroud to get some technology." He pointed at Grunt, "Grunt would have to stay. We need him for something."

Grunt looked over to Tristan, who shrugged, and they started heading towards Tuchanka's throne room, where Urdnot Shepard sat down at the stone throne. A door opened behind him and Urdnot Wrex came out, smiling at them. He still had his battle scars, but he's no longer in armor since his son took over ruling Clan Urdnot. Instead he wore a tunic of red leather, and his plate seemed to have lightened a bit, like faded leather.

"So these are my friends' children? " Wrex said as he came forward, "Seeing you all grown up makes me feel old as hell."

Tristan laughed, "Sorry about that."

The five of them stood in front of the old krogan leader and bowed, but Wrex waved them off. He came forward to Tristan, "Ahhh… Alenko's kid. You're doing well."

Tristan smiled and held out a hand, "Let me introduce you. These are my companions… Jarred Vancair, Nicholas Solus and Meiou Seishiro. Or course you know Grunt."

Wrex laughed, "Of course I know Grunt. Getting sick of him, to tell you the truth." And he grinned at Grunt, "You haven't contacted us in ages. You'll be staying here to report, do you hear, whelp?"

Grunt nodded, "I just accompanied Tristan and the others here. I'll stay while they head to the Shroud."

Wrex nodded and stood in front of Jarred and Nicholas, "Solus, eh?" He said, looking over Nicholas, "I never knew that salarian doctor had a kid."

"No. Salarians do not reproduce as hormone-driven species." Nicholas said, "Took on 'Solus' as… he was an idol of mine."

Wrex grinned, "I see. Well, welcome to Tuchanka, kid. If you visit the Shroud, you might want to look around. You might find something you might like."

Nicholas looked confused, but he just nodded. Wrex moved on to Jarred, and his wide face broke into a grin. "Jarred."

"Wrex." Jarred said, before shaking the Krogan's hand, "It's been a while."

The Krogan laughed, "I haven't seen you in twelve years, kid. The last time I visited, you were training with your dad with a sniper rifle. I hope your aim improved."

"Well, I'm Alliance Military now. I wouldn't be here if my aim hadn't gotten better." Jarred said, smiling.

Wrex laughed again, and clapped Jarred hard on the shoulder. When his back was turned, looking at Meiou, Jarred rubbed his sore shoulder.

"And this is Meiou?" He said, looking down at her, and she blushed. She bowed low at the Krogan before straightening up. Wrex's eyebrows rose, "Where are you from, woman?"

Meiou swallowed, "I was… an experiment of Cerberus. Jarred saved me a few days ago." She blinked, "I have been cryo-genetically frozen for the last fifty two years."

This time, it was Wrex who blinked, "Fifty two years? And yet you look so young?" She nodded, and he let out a sputter of indignation, "And here I was, aging all along. If I had known I could keep my youth being turned into ice, I would've volunteered."

Meiou giggled at this, and Wrex reached out his hand and she shook it. "Welcome to Tuchanka, Meiou."

She nodded, smiling at him. And he backed up to look at them all, "I wish I could come with you to the Shroud, but I have to stay and talk with my son and with Grunt. The Council has just approved that we have Krogan settlements on Earth, but we'll have to talk about it."

Tristan nodded, and Urdnot Shepard opened up his OmniTool to send the coordinates, "The Shroud can be found here. I'm sure Jarred can help with the navigation."

The crew nodded, and headed back to the shuttle, with Grunt looking at them longingly, like he was hoping to be brought along. Meiou smiled at him and waved goodbye, which he replied with a nod, and headed back to Wrex and Shepard.


	18. Chapter 17

In the shuttle, Meiou sat beside Nicholas, who went back into fiddling with his OmniTool. She caught a glimpse of what he was looking at and asked, "Is… is that Mordin Solus, Nicholas?"

Nicholas blinked, but Meiou was looking kindly at him, and so he nodded. "Yes. Mordin Solus was my inspiration in becoming salarian that I am today. Grew up reading his writings. Have been watching his videos and other works."

Meiou nodded, "Do you… miss him?"

"Salarians raised by Dalatress, not fathers. Reproduction contract only needed to create females." Nicholas shook his head, "However, Mordin Solus… he…"

Nicholas coughed, "Salarians raised to do best for species. Follow Dalatress and Queen's orders. Even if wrong." He opened up his OmniTool and showed her a video, "Mordin Solus went against orders and still cured genophage and cured Krogan. Always wondered why. Krogan history full of glorified killing and murders. Maybe I see Shroud, would understand why."

Meiou nodded, and soon the shuttle landed a few feet from the Shroud. Nicholas and Tristan jumped down first, with Jarred behind them. Meiou jumped down, her foot landed on an unstable rock, and her step faltered. Jarred caught her before she hit the ground. "Careful! The ground here is really unsteady."

She straightened, "Thank you." She looked up at the Tower, or rather what was left of it. Its top floor looks to have crumbled down, but the base was still intact. "So this is the Shroud? What happened to it?"

Jarred came forward and looked at the ruins, "It happened during the mustering of the Galaxy Forces. In order to secure the Krogan Alliance and help in Palaven, Wrex demanded that the genophage be cured. Commander Shepard allowed it, and had Mordin Solus and Urdnot Bakara make a cure." He said, "Reapers were attacking this area when they were trying to launch the genophage cure. But… Kalros, the Mother of All Thresher Maws, destroyed it."

Meiou's eyes widened, "Thresher maws? Those giant, wormlike things?"

Jarred laughed, "Yeah. Commander Shepard summoned Kalros to fight for them using that temple over there. Apparently, there were some hammers that could call on it. The damned thing fought with the Destroyer. It buried it underground." He looked around the horizon and saw an uneven landscape, "See there? That's where Kalros buried the Reaper."

"I… I see." She said, looking over to the canyon-like hole near the Shroud. She turned, looking around the surroundings, but she blinked. "Is… is that…?"

Meiou ran towards whatever to she saw, and the three followed her. When she stopped, they all looked up, and Nicholas gasped.

There was a statue of a salarian, standing a few feet from the Shroud. He was standing straight, with a datapad in one hand, clutched to his chest and a gun on the other. It gleamed silver in the Tuchankan sun, and they looked at it in amazement. Below the statue was a data console.

Jarred bent down, and scanned the console with his Omni-Tool. "It's a voice recording?"

He straightened, and the others gathered around him to listen. He pressed a button and listened.

"Greetings." Said a high pitched salarian voice, "I am Mordin Solus. Salarian scientist, STG Agent… and creator and curer of the Krogan Genophage."

Nicholas' eyes widened at the sound of the voice, but he remained quiet to listen.

"Made recording before heading to Tuchanka. Cure synthesized. Shepard getting ready to transport Krogan female and cure to Shroud…but still." He inhaled, "Cannot leave behind galaxy without leaving mark."

"Worked with Shepard for almost a year. Very… honored to have done so. Shepard very strong individual, and very unusual for human. Cares deeply for all species of the galaxy. Without Shepard, cure would not have been possible at all. Aims for peace, but do not know if we will achieve it. Still, her help invaluable for the future. Also… learned a lot of lessons from Shepard. Krogans seem like threat to other species, but now…" he seemed to have hesitated, "Have done many wrongs. Creating genophage a mistake. Krogans very misunderstood creatures. As is the geth. As is humans. As of any species. Focus too much on disadvantages species have, and war becomes a reality. Misunderstanding almost always reason for war. Turians and humans misunderstood. Salarian and krogan misunderstood. Geth and quarians misunderstood."

"Watched Reaper Wars occur, and soon understood everything myself. Reapers what humans call 'inherently evil'… wish for destruction because that is programmed. Because they thought it was reality and should be truth for galaxy. Reaper nothing more than flawed technology. Not alive. Not like us. Not like any species. Reapers cannot connect socially with any species. Only know how to kill and destroy. But species like us… have many emotions, many social behaviors, hence many variables."

Meiou swallowed, and tears swelled in her eyes. Jarred watched as the tears rolled down her cheeks, and she closed her eyes to listen some more.

"Made audio recording for others to understand. Was focused on big picture, but not looking at smaller pictures. Effects caused by my decision. How it would affect other species. Did not look into everything as whole. But now, everything changed. Understood now. Genophage was not worth it. Krogan misunderstood creatures, but did not deserve genophage. Rectified it now. Hopefully, other generations understand as well. Galaxy much bigger than we thought. Many species, many cultures. Difficult to understand them all. Would take asari centuries to understand everything. But all species the same. All alive. All with life. All with emotions. No species deserve punishment like Krogan genophage, or Reaper attacks. Genophage cure my… salvation for wrong doings. Hopefully, other species will not make same assumptions as I did."

Nicholas lowered his head, and Tristan patted him in the back.

"This my way of saying goodbye." Mordin's recording continued, "This my way of correcting mistake. Hope no one makes same mistake as I do. If you listen to this, hope you also understand. And learn. Galaxy has many discoveries. Many knowledge. Focus more in understanding knowledge, and life more worth it."

Mordin sighed in his recording, "I guess that is all. Thank you for listening. Once Reaper wars over, for better or worse… it has been a good life. A great journey. And an honor to have served under Shepard. On Normandy with crew. Goodbye."

The recording stopped, and Meiou opened her eyes and wiped away her tears. Nicholas' head was still bowed, but soon he straightened, and looked at the three of them. "Understand now. Am ready create Biotic Relays."

"Would you like to talk, Nicholas?" Meiou said, laying her hand on the salarian's arm.

But the salarian shook his head, "Fine now. Used to ask why brilliant scientist like Mordin Solus sacrifice life for something like Krogans. Or why other species fought alongside other life forms. Solus right. Many things to learn about galaxy and cultures. Still have much to learn. Much to discover." He smiled at them, "Would like to learn more about human cultures, but know that if solar flare destroys Earth and all colonies, would not be able to study them at all."

Meiou smiled, "Thank you. That is a good way to honor his memory. Maybe… maybe when this is done, and my training is done, I can teach you some things that we humans do. Like games and traditions and stuff."

Nicholas smiled and nodded, before looking at Tristan. "Permission to use shuttle to return to Normandy? Will start on calculations of size of Biotic Relays, measurements of Meiou's shield… other variables."

Tristan nodded, "Certainly. Ask one of the crew to return it once we're done. We probably won't take long."

Nicholas nodded and headed back to the shuttle, humming a little tune. Meiou blinked as the salarian walked away, "Gilbert and Sullivan…?"

Jarred stood beside her, "What?"

She pointed at Nicholas' retreating back, "Nicholas was humming Gilbert and Sullivan."

"Yeah. My mother told me Mordin Solus sang Gilbert and Sullivan once to her. It made her really amused. Imagine that high pitched voice singing the 'Scientist Salarian'."

Meiou giggled as Tristan bent down and scanned the ground. "Your mother… she was really something to have done all this."

Jarred nodded, "The Krogan leader was named after her. So she must've done something right." He sighed, "Still, I don't think I would be as great as her. Since the Reapers are gone, I don't think I would do much battle. All I'm targeting now are Cerberus remnants, batarian slave traders and red sand dealers. And compared to killing Thresher Maws, rogue Spectres, and Reapers… well, sometimes it's boring."

"You do not have to be your mother to be something great." Meiou said, looking up at the remains of the Shroud. "You just have to be great as Jarred Vancair. And I think you're doing a magnificent job at it."

Jarred smiled at her, "Yeah. I guess so."

Tristan straightened up and closed his OmniTool, "The Shroud is in ruins, but there's an underground area that could contain Shroud technology. There's an entrance nearby, but I think it's all covered in debris."

Meiou nodded, and they walked to where the entrance is. She looked at it and held out an arm, "Stand back. Maybe I can clear it with biotics."

The two men nodded, and backed off to give her some room. She raised both her hands and blue biotic energy engulfed the debris. She lifted her arms and hurled the stones aside, revealing a heavy steel door.

Jarred went forward and used his OmniTool and hacked the door open. "There's very little energy left, but I think there's enough to get the data."

Tristan nodded and headed down the stairs, with Meiou behind him and Jarred following. They stepped in a room and Jarred fiddled with the power source a bit, to get it to turn on. The lights flickered a little, and a console turned on near what looked like a couple of power generators.

Tristan looked over the console and fiddled with it before nodding, "This is great. Everything about the Shroud technology is here. Try and get everything in here, Jarred. "

The turian-human nodded, and used his OmniTool to save every data the console had. "Got it."

As soon as Jarred got the data, the lights went off, plunging them into complete darkness. "What the hell?!" Tristan exclaimed.

"The power ran out." Jarred said as he used the flash light on his OmniTool, "Of all the bloody rotten luck…"

"Wh… what about the door…?" Meiou whispered, her voice a little strained. Jarred turned his flashlight to her to see her pale against the light, her violet eyes flickering from side to side.

"With the power out, I think we're stuck in here for a while." Tristan said as he used his OmniTool, "Maybe I can radio someone to help…?"

But Meiou's eyes widened in panic, and she hugged herself and started panting, "It's too dark. I can't breathe…"

Jarred shined a light at her again, rushing forward, "Hey! It's going to be okay, Meiou."

But she crouched down and grasped her head, "No… no… I'm trapped again… I'm trapped again!" She fell to her knees, shaking violently. Even if Jarred had a light, it seemed like the thought of a locked door and the dark scared her, "I promise I'll be good! I promise I'll be good! Don't lock me here! Let me out!"

She ran away from Jarred, almost tripping in the stairs to the locked heavy metal door. Jarred and Tristan followed her, "Meiou!"

"Let me out! Let me out!" She cried hysterically, her fists pounding at the metal door, her nails clawing at the steel. "I won't do it anymore! Just get me out! I'll do everything you want! Let me out! I promise I will…!"

Jarred watched her as she pounded and clawed at the door, and soon he saw spots of blood appearing on the metal. Meiou had wounded her hands and almost ripped off her fingernails trying to get out of the door. He quickly came forward and wrapped his arms around her, trying to stop her from hurting herself. They ended up sitting on the floor, so that Jarred could stop her struggling.

"Shhh… shhh…" Jarred whispered, soothing her as her cries became yells of fear, "I'm here. I'm here, Meiou. You're not alone. Look at me." He grasped her hands in one hand and used the other to turn her face to him, "I'm right here. I won't leave you alone. I have a light, look at it. Look at me. You have me. Just… calm down."

Meiou's tear stained face looked into his eyes, and she whimpered, "They locked me up. They locked me up. I was a bad person. They… they… locked me up because I didn't do what they wanted me to do…"

Jarred looked at her, and then up to Tristan, who just nodded and pressed a finger to his ear. "Nicholas? Are you still in the Normandy? We got locked up in the basement of the Shroud. The power ran out."

"Ahh… Problematic." Nicholas' voice drifted to their ear piece, "Will return to Shroud ruins. Perhaps use power cells of shuttle to provide enough power to restore and open door? Yes… yes… will be there in a few minutes."

Meiou whimpered again, and Jarred held her tighter in his arms. "He'd better hurry. Meiou's having some sort of panic attack."

"Post-traumatic stress disorder?" Nicholas said, his voice sounding worried, "Understood. Leaving on shuttle now. Keep her comforted. Be there as fast as I can."

Tristan nodded and bent over Meiou, "Hey… don't worry, Nicholas is coming. We're here with you, alright?"

Meiou reached out and grasped Tristan's armor, "Don't leave me."

He nodded, "We won't. Just hang tight."

She nodded and buried her face into Jarred's neck, grasping for dear life on the turian-human. He could still feel her shivering in fear, and her tears felt cold against his neck. Jarred reached out to the back of her head, and slowly combed his fingers through her hair. Her shivering lessened, and her grip on Jarred's armor softened a bit. He kept combing her hair slowly, and soon, she sighed in contentment and fell asleep. Her soft sigh made something flutter in his stomach, and he smiled to himself.

"You know, if you keep doing that to her, I'm going to have to give you some shore time to take her somewhere nice."

Jarred's head snapped up to Tristan, and he saw his best friend smirk. "Shut up, Tristan."

But the human merely chuckled and looked at her, "You really like her, don't you?"

He looked down at her peaceful face, and he swallowed at her beauty. "I… yes."

"Then what's the hold up?"

Jarred shrugged gently to not disturb her sleep, "It doesn't seem right."

At this, Tristan's brows furrowed, "What do you mean?"

"She was locked up in that Cerberus facility for years, and from what just happened, I could see that she was hurt, out-casted and isolated. She probably felt like she was a freak of nature… an abomination." Jarred looked at his friend, "I think she needs time. Time for herself. To find out what she is supposed to do with her life. Everything she ever had was gone. I think she should discover things she wasn't able to learn about from the time she was locked up. And… I don't want to hold her down."

Tristan looked at Jarred, thinking, before shifting so that he sat and leaned on the wall, his legs stretched out in front of him. "You know, I read about a book once, out of curiosity. It was called 'Interview with a Vampire'."

Jarred scoffed, "That book about creatures that drank the blood of humans? I didn't know you were into that."

He chuckled, "Just shut up and listen. Yeah, it was a book about vampires. But, there was this one vampire who turned a human into a vampire too, because he wanted someone from that time to teach him everything about the new 'world' he woke into."

Jarred's brow plate rose, "Meaning?"

Tristan looked down at Meiou, "Meaning… maybe you were supposed to be the one to guide her into this 'new world' she got into. Like her teacher."

The turian-human shook his head, "I don't know about that."

"Why not? You're smart, and you know as much as I do about the galaxy we live in. I know you can lead her to the right path. Hell, maybe even she can help you find yours."

"I already know my path. I fight to protect my parents, to help those who are weak, and people working for Cerberus." Jarred said.

Tristan shrugged again, "Yeah, but I just think you need a new goal, a new… direction. And I think Meiou could lead you to it."

Jarred shook his head. And then he thought of something, "No wonder Amira likes you."

At this the human perked up, "Amira?"

A wicked grin spread across Jarred's face, but he hid it, "Yeah, man. The girl is crazy for you. Don't tell me you're too blind to notice."

Tristan blinked, "N… yeah. I guess I was." He looked down at Jarred, "Did she tell you that?"

Jarred shrugged again, "Yeah. But you know how girls are all 'hush-hush' about this sort of thing. You should totally go out with her, man."

"Hmm… I never really looked at her like that." Tristan said, and now he was the one thinking, "Huh. Amira likes me? Well… that's…"

"A good thing." Jarred said, smiling at his friend, "She can be your guide. Your teacher. For all your glorious achievements, Commander Tristan Alenko, you still suck at Tech stuff."

Tristan scowled at Jarred, before chuckling, "Yeah. I guess I am. I'm too much of a soldier to learn anything tech…"

"Tristan?! Jarred?! Are you there?!"

Tristan stood up from his place and ran to the door, "Yeah! We're here, Nick!"

"Asked assistance from Normandy crew to connect shuttle power supply to door." Nicholas said on the other side of the metal, "Ahh… power supply re-routed. Should be able to open now… there!"

The heavy metal doors opened, and Tristan smiled when he saw Nicholas with his OmniTool, and Engineer Radley by the shuttle. He nodded at the two of them, and mentioned to Jarred, who took Meiou into his arms again and stood up. He carried her out and Nicholas scanned her with his OmniTool.

"Ahhh… blood pressure still high. Heartbeat slowing. But still need rest." Nicholas said as he laid a hand on Meiou's forehead. "Still a little cold. Fear could induce shivers and panic attacks. Must let her rest in Normandy."

At Nicholas' touch, Meiou blinked her eyes and looked at the salarian, "Thank you, Nicholas."

The salarian smiled gently at her, and Meiou pushed off from Jarred a little, and he let her down. She looked at him shyly, "I… I'm sorry you had to see that."

Jarred nodded, "Cerberus must've done some really horrible things to you, Meiou, to cause something like that."

She nodded, "Yes. They did. I hoped no one would ever see that. But when the lights went out and I heard we were locked in, well…" She shrugged again, before bowing, her face blushing a shade of pink, "Sorry about that."

Jarred nodded, and she smiled again, before boarding the shuttle behind Tristan. Engineer Radley bowed his head at her, and as Jarred passed, he felt like the human was glaring at him. He looked down at the engineer again to see him fiddling with the cables he had used to power up the doors. Nicholas then boarded, before Radley got into the shuttle. He put a finger to his ear, "Extraction completed. Returning to the Normandy."

Nicholas was bent down in front of Meiou, scanning her with his OmniTool. She shook her head, "I'm okay now, Nicholas. Really. You don't have to worry."

But the salarian looked at her worriedly, "Have witnessed several Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder patients before, Meiou. Stress can be dangerous to humans."

"But I'm fine." She said again, "Thank you for being worried, but Jarred and Tristan helped me stay calm. As for my vitals, I can feel myself returning to normal. So please…"

The salarian nodded, "Understood." He straightened up and looked at Tristan, "Grissom Academy contacted Normandy while you were gone, Tristan. Ready for arrival of Meiou. Also requested to hurry. According to calculations, solar flare to occur in a month. Need as much time to increase Meiou's stamina."

Tristan nodded, "Alright. Let's head back. We can drop off Nicholas at the Citadel before heading to Grissom Academy."

Nicholas and Tristan sat down together, talking about the preparations for the Relays, and Jarred sat down beside Meiou, who was facing a tired looking Engineer Radley. He had a cap on his head, covering his eyes, and from his steady breathing, it looked like he took a nap.

Meiou smiled at him as he sat down, "You sure you're okay?" Jarred asked, looking over her face. The pale complexion she had when she was locked was gone, replaced with a soft, pink tone.

"Yes. I'm okay now. Thank you for comforting me." Meiou said, and she looked down at his hands, "The… thing you were doing to my hair… It reminded me of my mother. She used to do the same thing to me when I was younger… when I'm afraid or sad. It was… very calming for me."

Jarred smiled, "My mother did the same thing to me. Every time I was sad or alone or afraid… or hurt."

She looked up at him with her violet eyes, "Someone… hurt you?"

He nodded, "A long time ago, yeah. It was my first time entering the Alliance Military. I was… bullied by the other humans because of my half-breed status. But I remained brave, and took the bullies down by myself. Nobody ever helped me at all. But when I would go home for summer break, I would be hurt. I came home once with a gash on my face from having someone punch me. She looked at me, understood, and held me to her chest, stroking the back of my head."

Meiou smiled, "Even someone as tough as Commander Shepard is bound to feel motherly toward her son."

He laughed, "Yeah. Hero of the Galaxy becomes a regular mom. Many people didn't think it was possible. Hell, they didn't even know that turian-human babies can be made. My mom's a trail-blazer."

"But if you don't mind me asking… how were you made?" Meiou realized the mistake of her question and blushed a faint red, "Not like that! I mean… I was told that human and turian physiology is too different to create an offspring."

"To a degree, yes. But you're forgetting one thing. Evolution." He pulled up a hologram of the human body on his OmniTool, "Humans have a knack for it. You have all adapted to every situation, to every climate. Because of my mother's relationship to my father, her own body had evolved to my father's cellular make-up. Her body had adapted to my father's dextro-amino cells, so she doesn't get an allergic reaction to him anymore. And her reproductive cells… well, I guess they adapted too. And here I am. The product of human adaptation to turian reproduction."

Meiou nodded, "I see. I understand now." But she bit her lip and looked down at her hands, and soon enough she took a strand of her hair, and started twirling it around her fingers. Jarred grinned, "Thinking of something?"

She blinked, "Well… yes. I know this might seem impossible, but I… would like to meet Commander Shepard."

"You want to meet my mother?" Jarred said.

"Yes. Her exploits fascinates me. And… there are so many things I would like to ask her. But since she's in hiding, I am thinking that would be impossible."

Jarred leaned his head back for a while, thinking, as Meiou stared off into space. Finally he sighed, "Well, maybe when this is all over, or when Tristan grants us some shore leave, I'll take you to her."

Meiou blinked and looked up at him, "Are… are you sure?"

He smiled down at her, "Yeah. Why not? You've kept my secret safe. And I'm pretty sure my mother would be interested in you, too." He shrugged and smirked at her, "Besides, she's been telling me to bring home a girl once in a while. And I think you'd fit right in."

Meiou's face flushed red, and when she saw his smirk, she giggled and lightly smacked his arm, "Oh, you! You're joking me!"

Jarred laughed at her expression and put his arm around her. It caused her to blush even more, but surprisingly she didn't remove his arm. She even leaned over to his shoulder for comfort. He looked over to Tristan, who was grinning and put up a thumbs-up sign, but Jarred merely returned the gesture with one that caused his middle finger to flex and would probably earn a smack on the head from his mother if she had been there.

But he had to admit, having Meiou on his arm felt _right._ He couldn't quite explain it. But he felt so relaxed, so at peace with everything when she was with him. He smiled down at her, and she smiled back in return. His mandibles flared in happiness, as he closed his eyes. As his eyelids lowered, he thought that he saw Engineer Radley glaring at him again, but the soft snore from the man made him think otherwise.


	19. Chapter 18

"So, this is the biotic I'm going to train?"

Jarred, Tristan and Meiou all gulped, looking at the human biotic in front of them, giving them a stern look. Jacqueline Nought, or Jack when she was known on the Normandy, has aged into a mature woman, though her wildness was still present in her clothing. She was still very sleek and muscled for a forty year old woman. Her hair was tied back into a long pony tail, but were shaved at the sides, showing off tattoos at the top of her head. She wore a sleeveless leather jackets, leather pants and boots, and a leather tank top, showing off her still impressively muscled abdominals. Scars and tattoos covered every inch of her neck to her body, which made for an imposing look.

Meiou swallowed and nodded, "Yes. I am Meiou Seishiro. Councilor Samara has asked that you train me."

Jack scoffed, "Samara, huh? Well, I can't really refuse a Councilor now." She curled her finger and mentioned Meiou closer. "Come and stand here for a minute."

Meiou swallowed, but she came forward nonetheless, and Jack walked around her, "You're wearing Samara's armor, too. Guess she thinks you're as good as she thinks you are."

"Councilor Samara asked that you train her. Though she is biotically talented, she is rather weak in stamina. She had hoped you'd change that." Tristan said, returning to his old military demeanor.

"Huh. Figures." Jack said, and she then took Meiou's face in her hand, "If that is the case, then listen up, Princess. I am not here to be your friend. I am here to make your life miserable. You want to be strong? Then you have to prove it to me. And I don't get satisfied easily. If I say jump, you ask how high. If I say run, you ask how fast. If I say blast something with biotics, you do so with no questions asked. I am your officer now, and you follow whatever the fuck I say. Got it, Princess?!"

Jack shouted out the last sentence, and Meiou stammered, "Y… yes, ma'am!"

Jack stood aside and shouted, "THEN GET YOUR ASS INTO GEAR, PRINCESS! TO THE DORMITORIES, ON THE DOUBLE!"

Meiou scrambled and ran towards the building in front of her. Jarred and Tristan looked at her, before glaring down at Jack. "Was that really necessary, Jack?"

But Jack grinned at the two of them, "Not really, but if Samara wants that girl's stamina to improve, then the harsher I am, the more she'll work." At Jarred's scowl, she waved her hand. "Don't worry, I won't do anything to fuck her up. And even if something were to happen, the Grissom Academy Med Bay is just as top-notch as the Normandy's."

Jack sighed as she watched Meiou, "So… that girl was the first girl Teltin experimented on before me. Hard to believe it. But I think I did see her once, when we were sent to the Facility. I saw her tied up in a chair, unconscious."

Jarred perked up, "You said you saw her tied up? What kind of torture did Cerberus do to you guys?"

"Shit load of stuff." Jack said, "Those nearing adulthood had it worse. I imagine they locked her up in her cell, turning off all lights so she wouldn't see anything. A full sensory deprivation. No sight. No sound. No scent. No contact. The only thing you can hear in your room was your own breathing. Include the fact that she received daily injection and pain-threshold tests ought to have fucked up her brain."

"Our medic said she had PTSD. We saw it ourselves in Tuchanka." Tristan said.

"Yeah. That happened to me too." Jack said, "There was a point in my life that I was afraid of having friends. Luckily, Shepard changed that. And now here I am, teaching students."

Jarred and Tristan nodded, and Jack shrugged, "Well, no time to waste, I guess. I'd better get to training her. I'll call you guys when I'm done."

"Yes. Thank you, Jack." Tristan said, and the biotic walked away, shouting at students, and his OmniTool sounded. He opened it to see that it was his father. "Yes, Father?"

"Tristan. Is Meiou with Jack now?" Kaidan said.

"Yes. She's here at Grissom Academy now." Tristan replied, "We're on our way back to the Citadel."

"Actually, I just received word from James Vega, your instructor." At this Jarred perked up and stood beside Tristan, "You and Jarred are to head for Earth. I believe your yearly Skills Review are coming up. Mr. Vega agreed to meet you back on Earth for full testing."

"Where are we going, Admiral?" Jarred asked.

At this Kaidan smiled, "On Surin Island, off the coast of Thailand." And Jarred groaned. "As it turns out, Mr. Vega was about to take his yearly vacation. He thought it might be a good idea to spend it with some of his old war friends, while testing your skills, of course. We have agreed that he would record his reports and send it to me."

"Oh man." Jarred said, "Mom is going to freak."

Kaidan Alenko smiled, "I bet she would. Anyway, consider this some shore leave… a month long shore leave. I'm sure your parents would like this, Jarred. Once we have done building the Biotic Relays, we'll contact you. In the mean time, keep your skills sharp. Alenko out."

Kaidan ended the conversation, and Tristan and Jarred looked at each other. Finally, both of them let out a sigh of dread, before heading back to the Normandy.


	20. Chapter 19

"Mom? I'm home!"

Jarred pushed open the door, dragging his bag with Tristan behind him. It has been years since he had been back to his house in Surin Island, where the previous Admiral, Hackett, had hidden his parents thirty years ago, after fabricating a story about their deaths.

A red-headed woman came barging out of the kitchen, her apron still caked in flour, but she rushed to Jarred with her arms wide open. "Jarred! It's so good to see you home!"

Jarred smiled as he hugged his mother back, "Yeah, I'm back. Kaidan gave us a month of shore leave." He pushed her off and Jane Vakarian opened her arms to Tristan, "It's good to see you too, Tristan. You've grown so much!"

"Good to see you, Mrs. Vakarian." Tristan said as he hugged the woman, and when she untangled herself from his arms, she laughed and patted the boy's pants.

"Sorry about that, I was baking something when you two came in. Come inside and make yourself at home, Tristan. James and your father are at the backyard, Jarred. I'll take your bags, Garrus has been looking forward to you boys." Jane said as she hauled the two bags, her age defying the strength she still possessed even after retiring from the Normandy.

Jarred and Tristan headed for the door at the back near the kitchen, and immediately saw two lounge chairs. A muscled man sat in one, his shirt filling up his physique, sipping a beer, while the other chair had a turian sitting on it. He was wearing a black and blue turian shirt and pants, and was drinking what looked like a green colored drink in his hand.

"Hey dad! Hello, Instructor Vega." Jarred said as he and Tristan stepped out. Garrus Vakarian stood up and walked towards his son, before hugging the boy and patting him on his back.

"Hey, Jarred. Welcome home." Garrus said as he let go of his son, extending a hand at Tristan who shook it. "Good to see you again, Tristan. It's been so long."

"Yeah, Father's been a little busy at the Citadel. Sorry he couldn't make it." Tristan said, as he took James Vega's hand next.

Garrus chuckled, his mandibles flaring a bit, "Well, tell him he's welcome to spend whatever vacation time he has here. I'm sure Jane would love it if the others visited once in a while." He pulled up a couple of more lounge chairs and handed the two boys some beer. "Have a seat. James and I was just talking about you boys."

The four of them sat again, and James leaned towards Tristan, "So I've heard about your mission. Is it true that there will be an intense solar flare?"

Tristan nodded as Jarred opened up his can of beer, taking a small sip, "Yes. Our friends are working on Biotic Relays to try and contain the flare. We've found a powerful biotic who could do it. She can encase the whole Citadel with a biotic shield."

James whistled, "Holy shit, that's amazing. The whole Citadel?"

Jarred nodded, "Yeah, we saw it ourselves."

"Was that the girl who was with you, Jarred? That Meiou?" Garrus asked.

Jarred nodded again, "Yeah. She was a Cerberus experiment. Turns out she was a very powerful biotic."

At this, James raised a hand. "Wait a minute, I'm having a hard time grasping this. Can anyone tell me the full story?"

Jarred and Tristan told the story to the two men, starting from when they fetched Councilor Samara up to the time they had left Meiou at Grissom Academy. By the time they had finished, the sun had set, and Jane had finished laying out a table of food for them in the garden. The aromatic smells of his mother's cooking made Jarred's mouth water. And he was happy when Garrus made them sit down at the table.

Jarred and Tristan started filling their plates with piles of food, and Garrus and Jane couldn't help but smirk. "Slow down, boys. You'll be here for a month. You'll have plenty to eat."

But Jarred was already chewing on a fried chicken leg, "Yeah, well, you should know how it feels like to eat protein packets everyday on the Normandy, Mom."

Jane laughed, "Actually, yeah. I guess I do. Eat up, boys."

Garrus chuckled as he watched his son devour everything on his plate, "Imagine what it was like for me and Tali back on the Normandy. Dextro food packets everyday. I was about to revolt once because of that."

Jane smirked at her husband, "I changed the food supply after you brought that bottle of wine though."

Garrus chuckled again, "I guess you did."

The Vakarian family, Tristan and James talked throughout dinner, and when they were done, Tristan, Garrus and James headed to the garage to look over what Garrus did to the family car. Jarred helped his mother clear up the dishes.

He placed a pile of plates on the sink beside his mother, and he looked over to her to see her peacefully soaping the dishes. She looked over to him and smiled, before looking down at the plate again. Jarred smiled back before taking a rag and wiping down the dinner table. "Why do you look so happy, Mom?"

"Well, of course I'd be happy. My son is home for a month. What mother wouldn't be happy to have her little boy home again?" Jane said, rinsing the plates.

Jarred scoffed, "I'm not little anymore, Mom."

She sighed, "I know. You've grown so well." She finished cleaning out the plates, before turning to her son, who was now sitting on the table again, drinking a glass of water. "Something in your mind, Jarred?"

Jarred looked into his glass, watching the ice cubes swirl in the water. "I'm fine, mom… just thinking."

"Is it about that girl, Meiou?" Jane said as she finished shelving up the dishes in her kitchen.

Jarred blinked, "No… ah… well, sort of." He looked down at his glass again. And Jane took a glass of red wine and sat down beside her son. "Mom… why did you fall in love with dad…?"

Jane looked at her son, intending to joke around with him, but seeing the serious look on his face, decided to change her mind. "Your father… has been through a lot with me. We chased Saren through the galaxy, stopped the Collectors and destroyed the Reapers. I learned to love your father when we were on the suicide mission to kill the Collectors."

"But… you were going out with Tristan's dad, weren't you?" Jarred said.

"Yes. We did. Back during the time we fought against Saren and the Geth." Jane said, "But… when Cerberus rebuilt me, Kaidan… Kaidan didn't like the fact that I joined up with Cerberus. He thought that I had betrayed him… betrayed the Alliance. But your father saw through me… the real me. He understood everything. The reason why I joined up, and why I was still fighting when I could've stayed dead. He understood me, and defended me against Kaidan. And after that, I… realized that maybe… your father was the right one for me… even though we started out really awkward." She smiled, "I have never regretted anything in my life. I love Garrus. And that love gave us you, Jarred."

Jarred smiled at his mom and put his hand on hers, "I know, Mom. I'm just… confused."

Jane leaned over to Jarred, lowering her drink, and waited for him. He recognized it from every time something bothered him. It was her sign to talk to her.

"Meiou is… beautiful to me." Jarred started, "And… when we rescued her from that Cerberus facility, so many things started running through my mind. Like… what did Cerberus do to her? To the others? What were they trying to gain by doing all those weird experiments? How much has she suffered? How much more should she suffer? I don't know…" He shrugged, "Tristan told me that Meiou could be a way to 'find my own direction'… whatever the hell that is."

Jane looked at her son, before asking, "Then tell me, why do you fight, Jarred? Why do you remain in the Alliance Military?"

"Because I want the peace to stay. I want a world where everyone could co-exist, and all this 'racism' would end. Cerberus hates other species, and I want to end them because of that. Everyone should have a right to exist." Jarred said.

"And… is that all?" Jane asked her son.

Jarred looked at his mother, "What do you mean?"

Jane sighed, "Sometimes, Jarred, we need something to protect… something to defend… to find out what our real purpose is." She shrugged, "I defended the galaxy for as long as I could. I was tough, I fought so hard, almost to the point of death. But as I activated… or rather destroyed, the Crucible, I realized something else." Jane looked over to the garage window, where Garrus was laughing along with James and Tristan, "I fought… because I wanted them to live. Everyone I ever met… the Normandy crew and all the others I've helped… I wanted them to have a future. I wanted to have my own future… with Garrus. And I did. I still am."

Jane Shepard smiled down at her son, and Jarred smiled back, "Maybe Meiou is… the something worth protecting for you, Jarred. Maybe… just maybe… the reason you fight now, is because of her. Because you want her to have a future."

At this Jarred became quiet and pensive, looking down at his glass. Finally, he smiled and grasped his mother's hand lovingly, "I'm glad I came home, Mom."

Jane Shepard smiled, and stood up, leaning forward so that their foreheads touched. It was a turian way to show love and affection, which Jane often did it to him and her husband. She smiled as she touched her son's mandible, "Me too, Jarred."


	21. Chapter 20

Jarred's eyes peered through the scope, almost squinting. His target was 500 meters away, that even his brand new scope was no match to see it. He lined up the cross-hairs and squinted again, as James, Garrus, Tristan and Jane watched behind him.

"Take your time, son." Garrus said as he watched Jarred aim on his sniper rifle. "This isn't a time-based exam. The purpose of this is to test your range. Take your time, aim, and breathe out."

Jarred shifted a bit, so that he was more comfortable, and aimed the cross-hairs of his scope again. A balloon attached to a floating mechanism on the ocean before him looked like a very, very small target. But he simply took a deep breath in, aimed, and breathed out, squeezing the trigger.

James, who had been looking at the target with binoculars, let out a whoop. "Yeah! Headshot, baby!"

Jarred's mandible flared in happiness as he stood, pulling himself up with his father's assistance as the turian hugged him and thumped his back. "Well done, Jarred! That's my boy!"

"That's our boy, you mean." Jane said as she kissed his son's mandibled cheek, "Two arms specialist as parents ought to bring out the same genes in him."

James lowered his binoculars and pressed something on his data pad, "And… there! It's official. The two of you have passed your Military Skills Review and Test. You'll be happy to know that since you've passed the tests in flying colors, both of you have stepped up in ranks." He held out his hand and shook Tristan's hand first. "Congratulations… Captain Tristan Alenko of the Normandy."

Tristan grinned and saluted James, "Thank you, Instructor Vega."

James nodded, and shook hands with Jarred, as Garrus and Shepard stood behind him. "Congratulations, Lieutenant Commander Jarred Vancair."

Jarred nodded back and saluted as well, before lowering his hand and embracing James, "Thank you, Instructor Vega."

James patted Jarred at the back, and nodded to Jane and Garrus. "I say it's time for a fiesta! What do you say, Lola? Scars?

But before the couple could answer, the Normandy started hovering over them, before landing in an open area by the beach. The five of them ran over to the ship, just as a man in jeans and a white shirt came out from the cargo, limping a little bit. He had an SR-2 cap on his head, hiding the graying brown hairs on his head, and as he raised his gray eyes, he smirked as he leaned on EDI's mobile platform, who smiled at them, gleaming silver in the tropical sun. "Permission to come aboard your island, Commander Shepard?"

"J… Joker?!" Jane exclaimed, before coming forward. Several more people piled out, and the couple gasped at the sight.

Behind Joker and EDI were some her old SR-2 Crew, as well as Thanikah, Amira and Nicholas. Kaidan Alenko stepped out and grasped Jane's hand, "Actually, I was waiting for James to give me the password. We were just floating on orbit, waiting for him to make the confirmation that these two increased in rank."

"The password being 'fiesta', of course." Tali stepped out and hugged both Garrus and Jane in a bear hug. "We had to keep Victus, Kirrahe and Mordin in the dark, so we made it look like we were on official business, but with all the Council stuff we're doing, I was in desperate need for a vacation."

Grunt, Wrex and Liara stepped out, and the asari hugged Jane, while the two krogans patted Garrus in the back. "I'm never too old for celebrations." Wrex said, laughing, "Besides, with my son running things so well, I ought to get more vacation time now."

Samara and Jack came forward and hugged Jane and Garrus as well, "I knew you guys were still alive!" Jack explained as she separated herself from Jane, "Tough little fuckers like you shouldn't die so easily."

"It is good to see you again, Shep… I mean, Jane." Samara said, smiling at the two of them. "The moment I saw Jarred, I knew he was your offspring. And hope rose within me to see you both again. I am happy to see you alive and well."

Jane's eyes widened at the sight of them all, "Wha… what are you all doing here?!"

Kaidan shrugged as he put his arm around his son, "Celebrating, of course. My son is Captain, your son is an LC, Amira has finished her Pilgrimage, and the Biotic Relays are done. I just thought it would be a good time to take a break from work… for everyone."

Jarred and Tristan turned to Amira, who was coming down from the cargo hold bringing a box of what looked like dextro-amino food, "You finished your Pilgrimage?"

Amira nodded before standing beside her mother, who lovingly put an arm around her, "Yes. The Shroud technology wasn't actually recorded by the Flotilla, and after Jarred sent the data to the Citadel, I forwarded it home. It was enough for them to consider me an adult now."

Wrex and Grunt boarded the ship again and started pulling out boxes of food, and Thanikah, Edison and Nicholas stepped out holding boxes as well. They lowered their cargo before they grasped Tristan and Jarred's hands. "Biotic Relays finished. But waiting for actual day of Solar Flare before activating." Nicholas said, "Decided to take some shore time, while waiting. Congratulations on promotions."

Tristan smiled, "Thanks, Nicholas."

But Thanikah put a hand on her hip, "Even if you're a Captain now, there is still one sport I can beat you at, Tristan." She smirked, before holding up a beach volleyball.

"Ohohoho!" Tristan said, and he cracked his knuckles, "You are so ON, Thanikah!"

Tristan, Thanikah, Amira, Nicholas and Edison ran into the house, getting ready to change into some beach gear. Jarred looked around to see that Wrex, Grunt and Garrus were preparing a massive pit for a barbeque, while his mother, Tali and Liara were shifting through the boxes of food and talking recipes. Kaidan, Joker, Jack and James sat on lounge chairs, talking. But soon he realized that there was someone missing.

The sound of high heels clicking on metal made him turn, and he saw a slender, muscled woman on the cargo bay. The woman was still wearing Samara's armour, violet in color with gold accents. She was more muscled, and her figure was now more pronounced in the armor. But her face was still as beautiful as he remembered it, and when she smiled, he felt his heart flutter. He ran up the cargo hold, "Meiou!"

"Jarred…" Meiou said, almost reverently, and her eyes widened as he lifted her up in his arms and swung her into a full circle, before putting her down. He still held her in his arms, and he felt her arms around him, her other hand touching the back of his head. "I missed you…" He whispered.

Meiou's eyes widened, but her face softened to a beautiful smile, "I missed you too, Jarred."

Jarred's mandibles flared as he let her go, and he took her hand as they went down together. He stopped in front of his parents, and Meiou's face turned pink at the sight of Jane.

"Mom." Jarred said as he pushed Meiou forward, "This is Meiou Seishiro." He smiled at his mother, and winked. "The woman I'm defending."

At this, Meiou looked up at him, a little confused, and Garrus did the same with Jane. But Jane merely winked and whispered to her husband, "I'll tell you later."

Jane stepped forward and offered her hand to Meiou, who took it shyly. "It's an honor to meet you, Commander Shepard." Meiou said.

"On the Normandy, I was Commander Shepard. Here in Surin Island, though, I'm Jane." Jane said as she smiled at the girl, "Welcome, Meiou. It's an honor to meet you too."

Meiou looked confused for a bit, and she looked up at Jarred, who started pulling on her hand, "Come on! The others are changing, we're going to play beach volleyball!"

She looked bewildered as Jarred pointed her toward the house, and Jane smiled as she watched her son talk to her with such an animated smile on his face and a twinkle in his eyes. Garrus came forward and hugged her from behind, and nuzzled her neck, his lip plates at her ear. "Jane, is it just me, or is our Jarred in love with this Meiou?"

Jane smiled as she dragged her husband to pay attention to the guests again, "Yes. He is."


	22. Chapter 21

Jarred shielded his eyes against the sun, watching Thanikah, Amira, Tristan and Edison play a two on two game of beach volleyball. The scent of roasted pork and beef came wafting from behind him, and he looked back to see James and Kaidan around the fire, laughing with their beers in hand at Garrus' and Wrex's jokes, while Grunt's gaze remained transfixed at the meat. He smiled to himself. It was a really good day to get some shore leave for the others.

"Tristan!" Amira yelled from the sand, waving an arm at him. Since Surin Island was pretty much pollution free, she and Tali had removed their masks and suits, revealing to be beautiful women underneath all that cloth, leather and helmets. Tali had borrowed a summer dress from Jane, which fitted her quite well, and her jet black hair curled down her shoulders. Amira was wearing a tank top and some swimming shorts, which fitted her slim frame.

"When are you going to join us, Jarred?" Thanikah said, who was wearing a one-piece blue-green bathing suit, "We're owning these boys, you know?! Maybe they'd win if you were a player for them."

"Owning?!" Edison said, who was wearing beach shorts like Jarred and Tristan, "You guys aren't playing fair! Thanikah's using her biotics!"

"Alright, alright. Settle down." Tristan said, "Come on, Jarred. Let's play!"

"Hey! Wait for me! Three against two isn't fair you know?!"

Jarred recognized Meiou's voice, but not at what she was wearing. Meiou bounded out the door, her hair braided down her back, clad in a violet bikini top and mini-shorts, exposing her midriff, legs and a part of her cleavage. Jarred swallowed at the sight of her, and she turned back to him, smiling. "Let's go, Jarred!"

Tristan and Edison came over and dragged him towards the court, and Thanikah laughed. "Boys versus girls? Oh you guys are on!"

"Losers treat winners!" Amira cried out, her lips smiling as her pure blue eyes sparkled with mirth, "I want Tristan to treat me to a movie!"

At this Tristan grinned, "I got a better idea. If you girls win, then we are your slaves for the day. If we guys win…" He smirked as he looked at Amira, "You'll be forced to date us for a night."

The three women seem to stop, their mouths opening in shock, and Meiou's face turned pink again. At this Edison laughed, "No way am I going to agree to that! What kind of date am I supposed to do with Thanikah?"

Thanikah's eyes glinted with fury, as Tristan and Jarred laughed, "Oh, you are so dead, Flight Lieutenant!" She ran and jumped, serving the ball on their side of the court.

Because the boys were too busy laughing, the ball fell into their court. Jarred let out a frustrated scream, "Hey! We weren't ready!"

Nicholas chuckled from the side lines, "Females ready for game. Men are not. Strange considering men proposed consequences. Still, recommend caution. Female garments very distracting. Remind to focus on game. Stakes very high."

At this reminder, Jarred looked at Meiou again, and like Nicholas said, became distracted from the way her suit clung to her body, and from the sheen of sweat on her skin. He was too busy staring, that he hadn't realized that Amira had served the ball, and it hit him on his carapaced forehead.

"Eyes on the ball, Jarred!" Tristan said, and from behind him he heard James shout, "Hey, Jarred! I know she's _muy caliente_, but eyes on the ball, _chico!_"

Jarred shook his head, and looked at Meiou, who was smirking as she bent and got ready for the serve. He stopped looking at her, and focused on the ball. She jumped and hit it, aiming directly for Jarred. He smirked and hit it back above the net.

For the next thirty minutes, the kids played volleyball, and pretty soon the adults started watching them, with the men cheering on the boys and the females cheering on Meiou and the girls. Jarred had to admit, despite being frozen for so long, Meiou played excellently. Perhaps it was because of Jack's training, because her body had gained more flexibility and strength. Pretty soon, the two teams were tired, and from the way that the table was set down by the house, and the fact that the sun was setting, it was nearing dinner.

The six players were panting already, and the game was now tied. Jarred was holding the ball getting ready to serve, and he looked at the three women. They were all panting, and Amira was looking like she's giving up, while Meiou and Thanikah still looked determined. He smirked, calculating their part of the court, before jumping up and hitting the ball.

Thanikah went after it, shouting "Meiou!" as she hit it, and the human jumped and spiked the ball into the men's court. Edison dived and caught the ball, and Jarred hit it again and launched it to the air, "Tristan!" he cried out, and for a split second, the two men met each other's gaze, and Jarred looked at Amira. Tristan immediately understood, and spiked the ball, and it headed towards the women's side, several inches from Amira.

Amira dived, trying to save the ball, but it hit an inch away from her hand, and she fell into the sand. Nicholas called it, "Men's team wins!"

The men in the audience cheered, and the women shook their heads, but they laughed and cheered nonetheless. Thanikah and Meiou helped Amira up, and they walked towards the middle of the court to shake hands with the men. Tristan smirked as he shook Amira's hand, but he suddenly dragged her to his side. "Pick your dates, boys!"

Jarred immediately pulled at Meiou's hand, since she was about to shake hands with him, and his mandibles flared as he smiled when he saw his mother nod approvingly. Thanikah and Edison looked at each other, scowling, before Edison threw up his hands. "Okay, okay. I'll take Thanikah."

At this, the drell scowled, "You're the last being I'd ever want to date too, Edison." And she stomped off towards the house to change before dinner.

Edison sat down by his father, "Don't worry, son. All females say that. Just give her time and she'll warm up to you." Joker said, ruffling his boy's hair. EDI smiled as she fixed her son's hair again, because his father ruffled it out of order.

The adults laughed as they settled all around the table, passing out food to their friends and children. A few minutes later, Thanikah came out, fully clothed, and joined up in eating, but she was still glaring at Edison. A few minutes later, after being full of food, the crew dispersed, forming into several groups.

Tristan, Amira, Nicholas, Edison and Thanikah sat around a small fire, roasting what looked like marshmallows on sticks. James, Joker, Kaidan, Garrus, Wrex and Grunt sat around the roasting pit again, drinking heavily and laughing out loudly, sharing what seemed to be bawdy songs from different cultures. Jack, EDI and Samara sat under a tree, and it looked like the asari was teaching the both the robot and the biotic meditation. Liara, Tali and Jane sat on lounge chairs, sipping on red wine (and quarian cocktails) as they chatted. Jarred looked around, trying to find Meiou, but he couldn't find her. As he looked into the water, he noticed something white floating in the shallows. He walked near it, only to see Meiou floating in the water, her eyes wide open, looking at the stars above her. She saw Jarred standing above her and she smiled. "Hi, Jarred."

"Hey, what are you doing?" Jarred said as he sat down, the cool water waving to his waist.

"I used to do this all the time, whenever my parents and I would visit the beach." She said, still floating in the water. "It feels like I'm floating through space… without the whole exploding body parts thing, at least."

Jarred chuckled, "Yeah. I know what you mean."

Meiou smiled peacefully above her, before raising herself up and scooting beside Jarred. He watched as the water in her hair trickled down her back, and he gulped. He felt like he wanted to dry her with his hands. "I never dreamed that I would travel the stars. When I was younger, I've always thought that I'd stay on Earth." She looked down, "And now, it's in danger."

Jarred placed a hand on hers, the waves lapping on their entwined fingers, "Don't worry, I'm pretty sure that you could save it."

Meiou smiled at him and looked up the stars again. "Can I tell you my secret, Jarred?"

He nodded, "Sure. You can tell me anything, Meiou."

"When I met your mother, I was a little… envious." She said, "She… married someone she loved, even though he was another race. It made me think about my past. Fifty two years ago, no man never really came to love me. They probably thought I was a freak, being an Albino. People… avoided me. But when I looked at her and your father, hearing about their stories and how they fought to make sure both of them survived… how your mother fought hard to come back to your father, it gave me hope… that someone out there could fall in love with me."

Jarred closed his eyes for a minute, before looking at her, the lump on his throat rising again. But he took a deep breath and whispered, "Why look for somebody out there… when he's already right here?"

Meiou looked at him now, her eyes glistening, but she smiled shyly, "Actually… I was hoping it would be you."

Jarred blinked, the lump on his throat disappearing, but was soon replaced with what felt like butterflies in his stomach. He leaned closer to Meiou, his hand cupping her face, and her violet eyes rose to meet his green-eyed gaze. He lowered his lips, his mandibles flaring, and shyly, placed them on her lips.

She was soft, and she smelled like the ocean. Jarred opened his lips a little, taking a tentative taste, only to realize that she tasted sweet, like caramel on his tongue. He felt her hand on his mandible, shyly pulling him closer, and her tongue shyly explored his lips as well.

The sensation of her tongue on his lips made him lose a bit of his control, and he pulled her closer to him. Her hand rose to his chest, gripping on his shoulder, similarly pulling him as he opened his mouth more and kissed her deeper.

But Meiou gasped a little, and pulled herself away, gazing at him shyly. And Jarred felt a little disappointed.

"Uhm…" Meiou said, pulling away a little, "I… don't think this is the right place, Jarred."

Jarred blinked, and he looked over his shoulder, seeing that the others were still busy, but his mother saw him, and winked at him. He felt a little embarrassed.

"You're right. Sorry about that." He pulled away from her a little, but still he kept his hand on hers.

She giggled, but she stayed close to him, leaning her head on his shoulder. A warm breeze wafted from the ocean, and her hair fluttered in the wind. Jarred looked down at her, watching her smile peacefully. He pulled out his hand from hers, and put his arm around her. She settled on his shoulder again, laying her hand on his chest. She giggled, "I guess this means… you're my boyfriend now?"

Jarred blinked, and he laughed. But still, hearing the fact he was "hers" now, made him happy. "I guess so… yeah. Definitely."

"And you're okay with having a relationship with a… what, sixty year old woman?"

At this both Jarred and Meiou laughed out loud, tears almost falling off their eyes in mirth. But Jarred grinned down at her, "Since you are… as James said, _muy caliente_, I do not mind at ALL."

Meiou grinned back, before settling back on his shoulder again. Jarred sighed, both from happiness and contentment, before his brows furrowed. He knew that after their shore leave, they're going to have to go back to the fire… literally.

But seeing Meiou so peaceful beside him, he realized that he was willing to take his time with her. And make the best of it.


	23. Chapter 22

The day of the solar flare was coming.

And yet, Jarred didn't seem to be worried about it at all. He was more worried at the strange suit his mother was holding up for him.

It's been three days since the whole crew took their shore leave, and tomorrow, the kids were going back to the Biotic Relays to stop the solar flare. Jane and the rest of the crew agreed to make a super-special party, and with a different flavor to it. As it turns out, she made it a _formal_ beach party, which excited the women but threw the men into distraught.

"Are you kidding me? I didn't bring any dress blues!" James and Joker whined, but ultimately took the Normandy to the nearby shopping district in Thailand to shop for clothes.

Jarred wasn't able to go with them, mainly because he was too busy walking along the beach and talking with Meiou to notice that they had left to buy clothes. And by the time he found out, Amira announced that she had bought a dress that Meiou had liked, and that Jane bought a suit for him.

"Well, what do you think?" Jane asked as she held up the suit for him, which consisted of black pants, and a dark blue silk jacket with a high collar. He looked at her uncertainly, and Jane rolled her eyes.

"Come on, just put it on! The party is starting!' Jane said as she ushered her son into the bathroom to change.

"But Mooooooom!" Jarred wailed childishly.

"No buts, young man! Now put in on!" Jane said, sounding stern, but the sparkle in her eyes defied her anger, looking amused.

Jarred sighed, but stomped off to the bathroom to put on his clothes. It's really hard to argue with your own mother, especially since she's the Savior of the Galaxy.

A few minutes later, Jarred came out, wearing the pants and suit his mother gave him. He had to admit, it fit him rather well, considering he was more used to wearing dress blues whenever he attended any formal parties back in the Alliance. He gave one last pull on his collar, and saw that his mother was zipping up his father's shirt, which consisted with a turian civilian clothing, but made of silk like his, with two, white stripes running down its front.

"Looking sharp, Dad." Jarred said, looking at his father, and Garrus' mandibles flared as he smiled.

"Actually, I haven't worn one of these in a while."Garrus said, "And back then, it wasn't even human silk."

Jane smiled at her husband, "I think the last time you wore one of these was during our date and covert operation on the Citadel."

Garrus laughed, "Yeah, I remember now."

Jane turned and smiled at Jarred, and he saw that she was wearing a long, asari-made dress, that showed off her slim arms, but still covered her pretty well, unlike the provocative ones the asari normally wears. "You look really pretty, Mom."

Jane smiled, "I'm normally a leather-dress kind of woman, but since I am growing old, I might as well tone it down a bit. Your father liked that phase of mine though."

"She was smokin'." Garrus said, his mandibles flaring as he remembered. "Honestly, I never knew why your mother asked me out then, but I liked it."

Somebody knocked on the door now, and Tali and Amira peeked their heads in. Both of them had their wavy dark hair pulled up to a smooth bun. Tali was wearing a long dress like Jane, but Amira was wearing what looked like a leather dress that fitted her perfectly. Jarred smiled as he stepped out, heading to the living room with Amira, and Tali and Jane started talking.

"You know, Tristan is going to drool if he sees you in that." Jarred smirked as he sat on the couch with Amira.

At this Amira smirked, "I love leather dresses. It feels like my suit."

But Jarred placed a finger on his chin as he looked her over, "But I think… there's something wrong with it."

At this Amira's eyebrow rose, and as quick as a flash, Jarred reached behind her head, and unclipped her bun, her dark hair billowing down her shoulders. "Hey! I spent an hour fixing that!" Amira wailed as she took the clip back from him, and ran to a mirror. But as she stared at her reflection, she stopped. Jarred smirked as he walked and stood behind her.

"Well… this is unexpected." Amira said as she surveyed herself, "I look… hot."

Jarred laughed, "Yep. You look better with your hair down, Amira." He looked around the house, "Where's Meiou…?"

Amira started fluffing up her hair, "She's still upstairs. She was the last one to take a bath, and she had problems with all that hair. She was even starting to think of cutting it, but Thanikah stopped her." She shrugged, "She'll be down when she's ready, don't worry."

Jarred pulled at his collar, "Did you… uh… see what she's wearing?"

"Yeah. The three of us helped each other in getting ready." Amira stopped fixing her hair and smiled at Jarred, "Besides, Meiou said not to tell you anything about what she's wearing. She said it's a surprise."

Jarred blinked, but his parents came down the stairs now, with Tali behind them. Amira, Tali and Garrus stepped out to the front door, where Jane had Wrex, James and Grunt put up tents for their party. Jane smiled as she came forward and straightened Jarred's suit. "Come on, the party is starting, you can wait for Meiou outside."

Reluctantly, Jarred followed and went out front with his mother. The beach had been transformed, so it now had a huge tent to fit all of them, and a smooth metal floor was laid down. A crystal chandelier was hung on the top of the roof, giving of sparkling lights. Tables and chairs were arranged as well, and a huge buffet table was set up. There was some speakers in the tent as well, playing soft, classical music.

Tristan and Edison were the first people he saw, and he grinned when he saw Tristan, whose mouth was open in shock as he looked over to Amira. Wrex and Grunt wore similar suits that looked strangely like armor to him. EDI, Samara, Tali, Liara and his mother were all wearing asari dresses that were cut differently. Jack was wearing what looked like slacks, and a short sleeved shirt, but she wore a tight fitting vest over it, that she looked like a business woman, even with the annoyed look on her face. James, Kaidan, Joker, Edison and Tristan, all wore black suits and white shirts, though James kept his jacket open.

Jarred went over to Tristan and stood beside him, and he smirked, "You know if you keep it hanging like that, you're going to get flies in there."

At this, Tristan closed his mouth, but he nudged Jarred, "How the hell did she do that? She looks… amazing."

At this, Amira looked behind her, and saw the two of them. Jarred gave a little wave, but Tristan kept staring at her. Amira smiled, ever so sweetly, and batted her lashes, looking down, before turning back to Tali. Jarred knew she was trying her best to look flirty, and it worked. Tristan pulled on his collar, his face turning a little red. Jarred looked over Edison, who was staring at Amira as well and he laughed.

"Looks like you got competition, Tristan." Jarred said, pointing at Edison.

Tristan looked at him as well, and his brows furrowed. "Not going to happen.", he seethed.

Jarred laughed and patted his shoulder, "Go get her, tiger."

Tristan drained his drink, exhaled and marched right to Amira. Jarred smiled at his friend's determination, and laughed outright at Edison's disappointed look. Garrus stood beside him, holding a glass of turian brandy, smiling at the sight of Tristan awkwardly talking to Amira, "Glad those two finally took the step. Tali and Kaidan's been trying to get those two together for ages."

Jarred chuckled, "So you knew about this?"

Garrus' mandibles flared as he laughed, "Sort of. Actually, Tali wanted Amira to go out with you, but when Amira noticed that her mother was trying to push her towards you, she got mad and threw a fit. I told her that I think she likes Tristan more, and her attention shifted to him."

Jarred put his arm around his father and patted him before letting go, "Glad you didn't play matchmaker for me, Dad."

"You're getting a match by yourself already." Garrus chuckled, "So… you and Meiou, huh?"

At this, his son's cheeks turned pink, but he smiled gently, "Yeah."

"I guess we both have a thing for amazing women." Garrus said, looking over Jane, who smiled at him, before turning back to her conversation with Kaidan and Wrex.

Jarred nodded in assent, "Yeah. I guess we do. You married the Savior of the Galaxy, and I'm going out with the most powerful biotic in human history… probably even in asari history."

"Soon to be the Savior of Earth, I believe." Garrus said, and he looked over to his son with worry, "Can't help but feel nervous about this whole Solar Flare thing. Are you sure you guys are going to be alright?"

Jarred nodded, "I'm worried too, dad. But Liara and Nicholas did all the calculations, and the Council ensured us that the best engineers built everything perfectly. So, I guess I'm not that worried." His brow plates furrowed, "I'm worried about Meiou, though. I don't know how the whole thing might affect her. She's powerful, I admit, but I just hope her training works."

"I'm sure she'll do fine." Garrus said, "Where is Meiou anyway?"

Jarred shrugged, "I don't know. Amira said she and Thanikah helped her dress, but they haven't come out yet…"

"Holy mother…." He heard Edison whisper in reverence.

Thanikah came out, and even Jarred smiled in surprise. Thanikah was wearing a silk-corseted dress that pushed her chest up, revealing the smooth light-green skin on her cleavage, arms, neck and shoulders. Her skirt was made of some airy material that fluttered at the wind. She was holding on to something behind her, and she turned, revealing the back of her dress, where a ribbon criss-crossed down the bare back of her corset. Thanikah smiled at Jarred and Amira, and at the sight of Edison staring at her, her eyes fluttered, before looking behind her. She pulled someone out from the door gently, who, to Jarred, looked like a goddess.

Except it was Meiou. Jarred's breath got caught in his throat as he looked at her. She wore a white, chiffon Grecian-style dress, which fluttered around her ankles in the night wind. Her hair was pulled up to a bun on top of her head, with a few strands coming down in ringlets. Gold brooches held the dress to her shoulders, and a rope-like golden belt was wrapped around her slim middle to hold the dress together. She still wore Samara's choker, and some gold chain was woven into her hair, giving out an elegant touch to her white tresses. She smiled when she saw him, and immediately went towards the father and son.

She smiled at Garrus before bowing down to a small curtsy, "Good evening, Mr. Vakarian."

Garrus nodded to her, his mandibles flaring. "Good evening, Meiou. You look beautiful today. Doesn't she, Jarred?"

Jarred continued to look at her, staring at her that it caused her to blush, and Garrus poked his son to snap him out of it. "Yeah… uhm…" Jarred said nervously, "You look…" He swallowed, "Beautiful."

The way he said it, like a caressing whisper, made her blush even more. But she smiled shyly and shook her head, "You haven't seen anything yet." And she turned her back to him.

The back of the dress was cut low. So low in fact, that it seemed it was just an inch or two from her buttocks. A chain connected from her choker, and on it was a pendant of a star that swayed when she moved. Her pale skin seemed to glitter, and Jarred knew that it was the reason why she took so long. Seeing the naked skin on her back made him swallow even more, "Oh Spirits…" He whispered.

Garrus chuckled as Meiou turned around and faced them again. "That is quite the dress, Meiou. Where did you find it?"

"Amira looked around the extranet to find a dress for me." She said, "But… this is the dress Mrs. Vakarian… I mean, Jane… picked out for me." She looked at Jarred shyly, "She said… she said Jarred might like it."

At the sound of his mother's name, Jarred looked up to find her nodding appreciatively at Meiou's dress. She saw him looking at her, and she grinned. Behind her, James saw the back of Meiou's dress and his eyes nearly bulged. He saw Jarred, and raised a hand as if to fan himself, mouthing out "damn" at her figure.

Jarred coughed, "I don't like the dress." At this, Meiou's eyes widened in shock, and she looked saddened. He grinned, "I love it."

Meiou's violet eyes rose to meet his, and a blush spread her cheeks again. Jarred offered out his arm, but before Meiou could hold it, Nicholas blocked them. "Meiou." He said, smiling at her, "Believe you promised to assist me in understanding humans. Salarians… or rather, myself, do not understand 'dancing' very well. Would like your assistance in teaching me."

Meiou looked behind Nicholas to look at Jarred, who seemed a little shocked at his friend's intrusion, but she smiled at the salarian and took his hand. "Sure, I'll teach you."

Jarred's mouth opened to object, but Meiou had already taken the salarian's hand, who took her to the dance floor. He watched as Meiou took Nicholas' left hand to her hip, and grasped his right hand. Nicholas watched her as she taught him to waltz, their feet making a square like pattern on the floor. She was laughing, and Nicholas was too busy counting, but soon they got the hang of it, waltzing gracefully on the floor.

James stood beside Jarred and Garrus, "Damn,_ chico_, looks like Nicholas beat you to the first dance."

"There'll be other dances." Jarred said curtly, though he was a little miffed at the way Nicholas was holding on.

But Garrus thumped him on the back, "Don't be too jealous. Remember, that's Nicholas she's dancing with. Your friend who studied way too much that he never found the time to actually learn how to dance."

At this, Jarred blinked as he remembered, "Yeah. I guess you're right, Dad."

Garrus chuckled, before looking over to Jane, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll take your Mom for a spin. I hope she still knows how to dance properly, considering all she knew before was her 'Shepard Shuffle'".

Jarred and James laughed as they remembered the former Commander's 'dance moves' and Garrus went over to his wife for a dance. James handed Jarred a glass of what looked like beer, and raised his glass to his student. Jarred bumped his glass gently against his teacher's, and drank a little, with James doing the same. They stood at the sidelines as they watched everyone, laughing and eating and dancing.

"I have to say, this is a pretty damn good fiesta." James said as he looked around, "It's like the one we had on the Citadel, on Admiral Anderson's apartment."

"Yeah, my dad had a vid about that." Jarred said, "I bet it's like having the old gang again."

James nodded, "Yeah… just… minus some people. Zaeed, for one, never got to talk to him. But I heard he was kick ass. Of course, the guy was pretty old by the time I met him. And then the Prothean, Javik… he… killed himself after the Reaper Wars. He said that the Prothean revenge has been done against the Reapers, and he was ready to join his squad." James shook his head, "And of course, Miranda and Jacob are too busy with the Alliance. Our old shuttle pilot, Esteban… I mean Steve Cortez, he's too busy with his family. Traynor's busy with her family too, but her daughter is helping with the Normandy's retrofits."

Jarred nodded as James drained his glass, as the music changed to something like a tango, "Well, I never got the chance to dance with a Justicar yet. Maybe I should take this opportunity, no? Later, _chico_."

James waved goodbye as his strode over to the Justicar, and Jarred looked a little to the right, to see that his parents had started dancing the tango, rather slowly, given their old age. He smiled as his mother spun with his father, laughing.

"Whew, I need a drink."

Jarred looked over to his left to see that Meiou had joined him, and was now drinking a glass of juice. She smiled up at him, "Nicholas learned to dance. He said he never had the chance to learn. He's dancing with Thanikah now."

He looked over to where she pointed, and saw that Thanikah was now teaching Nicholas to tango, while Wrex and Grunt ate their steaks. The poor salarian was a bit awkward, but Thanikah was teaching him well. He looked over to Edison, to see the boy watching them intently. He grinned and pointed at him, "Looks like someone's getting jealous of Nicholas."

Meiou looked over to Edison and saw his glare. She giggled before looking up at Jarred, "Poor Nicholas. If all your glares turned into daggers, the poor boy would be dead now."

Jarred raised a brow plate at her, and she smiled, "I saw you staring at us while we danced. You were glaring too. Were you jealous that I danced with Nicholas, Jarred?"

His face flushed again and he let out a huff, "Me? Jealous? Of Nicholas? Nah. Of course not. I've known Nicholas for a while now. I know that he never learned how to dance, unlike me."

"Oh?" Meiou's eyebrow rose, "You took dance class, Jarred?"

Jarred laughed, "Yeah, I did. A little. I saw a vid of my mother dancing with my dad. And I was determined to not learn the 'Shepard Shuffle'. It kinda looked like this…" Meiou laughed at him when he demonstrated his mother's dance moves. "I took a couple of weeks worth of dance class. Not really professional level, but enough to not embarrass myself on the floor."

"Really now?" Meiou said as she lowered her glass of juice and stood in front of Jarred, extending her hand, "Care to dance, Mr. Vancair?"

Jarred looked at her, seeing the mischievous look in her eyes. His mandibles flared a little as he took her hand. He put his left hand at his back and bowed low, planting a kiss on the back of her hand. He heard her gasp a little at the sensation, and he straightened. "Allow me to lead, Ms. Seishiro."

Meiou smiled as Jarred led her to the dance floor, twirling her around before settling his hand on her lower back. Jarred smirked, and started dancing with her, his movements precisely in time with the music, and Meiou found herself following his lead, twirling and stepping in time with him. He even managed to lift her up his arms to a small lift, before settling her down again.

She laughed a bit at their dancing, not realizing that everyone is watching them now, as they moved with the music. As the music slowly came to an end, Jarred spun her a little bit, making her arch, and her leg clung on to his hip for balance.

The crew began clapping as the music stopped, and Meiou was still arched in his arms, gasping for breath a little. Jarred pulled her up so she can stand, and she laughed, her eyes twinkling in mirth.

"That was fun." Meiou said, still a little breathless. And she looked around at everyone, who was still clapping at them. She grinned and curtsied, before urging Jarred to do the same. Jarred laughed and bowed with her, as he guided her to a table.

Meiou sat down, still catching her breath, but she was laughing with her head on her hand. She peered over to Jarred and grinned, "I haven't dance like that in ages."

The music turned to something slower now and Jarred watched as his parents started dancing, and Tristan and Amira took the floor. Edison and Thanikah were talking at another table not far from them. "You haven't eaten dinner yet, Meiou. I should get you a plate." Jarred said, before standing up and heading towards the buffet table.

"I am glad that he is coming to care for you, Meiou."

Meiou looked behind her to see James, looking a little breathless. "So you danced with the Justicar?"

"Whew. Yeah." James said, taking a huge gulp of water, "Samara's got me beat. A thousand years worth of studying dancing… I can't keep up."

Meiou laughed as James took a seat beside her, looking at Jarred as he grabbed a couple of plates and was talking to Nicholas as the salarian helped Jarred in putting in food. "Huh. Jarred's all grown up now. It seems like just yesterday that everybody was picking on him."

"You've taught him since he was a child?" Meiou said, looking at him.

"Yeah. He had it tough, seeing that he was half-human." James said as he places his chin on his fists, looking at Jarred, "My students bullied him. I couldn't protect him when my back is turned. I did the best that I could, but they'd still get to him. He hardly smiled, even at me. He worked so hard to prove the others wrong. But he grew strong because of it. And now he's an Alliance soldier. A LC at that." James chuckled, "I recently found out that one of the kids that used to bully him is still a private until now. Kid can't hit the far side of a barn with a rocket launcher. I showed him a picture of Jarred in his Alliance uniform. Never seen a human turn green with envy, literally."

Meiou smiled as she bowed her head, "I used to be like that too, just differently."

"Oh?"

She nodded, "When I was in high school, because I was an Albino, I was often bullied by my classmates. I had close friends, but they could never protect me all the time, just like my parents. I… had to learn to defend myself in some way. To prove them wrong." She smiled, "I did everything I could to prove to them I was better than them. I learned to sing. I learned to dance. I got top marks in my school. But it got me bullied even more. So I learned… a little martial arts." She grinned, "I beat a boy twice my size once, people shut up after that."

James laughed, "Really? Twice your size? Maybe we should put that to a test before the mission, no?"

Meiou laughed, "I'd rather you don't, Mr. Vega. I'm afraid Jarred would get mad at me if I accidentally broke your bones."

James laughed harder, and pointed at her, "You know, you sound just like him now. Looks like you two got a lot in common."

"I guess we do." She said, and smiled as she watched Jarred laugh with Nicholas.

He smiled at her, "I'm happy he found someone like you, _joven_. With us getting old as we are, _Chico_ needs someone to take care of him."

Meiou smiled, "I will do my best for him, Mr. Vega."

James stood up and patted her shoulder, "I know you will."

Jarred turned around with a couple of plates of food just as James left his chair, and he watched as his teacher walked away. He laid a plate of food in front of Meiou and sat down beside her with his own plate, "What were you guys talking about?"

Meiou's brows furrowed as she looked down at her plate, "Nothing, really. Uhm… Jarred… I can't finish all this."

Jarred looked down at her plate, only to realize that it was indeed too much. He laughed, "Sorry. Nicholas told me to take care of you, since you're going to need your strength for the mission tomorrow. I guess it is too much."

Meiou looked over to the salarian, who nodded and smiled, "I'll… try to finish as much as I can then. As long as I don't get sick."

Jarred smiled and began eating what looked like lasagna on his plate. Since he was a turian-human hybrid, both kinds of food was available for him. He looked up at her as he chewed, and Meiou stifled a giggle. "What?"

But Meiou shook her head and grabbed her napkin, before leaning to him and wiped a drop of sauce that dribbled down his chin. "I guess you really like lasagna, even your chin is eating it."

"Oh, sorry." Jarred said, grinning, "This is my mom's recipe. It's really good, that's why I'm eating kind of… messy."

Meiou laughed and she stuck her fork into her own serving of lasagna, bringing it up to her lips and ate. Her violet eyes widened, "Oh wow… this is delicious."

Jarred grinned at her, but nearly fell to his food face first as Tristan pushed him a little before settling down beside him with his own food. Nicholas and Edison joined them, and soon Thanikah and Amira sat at Meiou's left side.

"Hey! Watch it!" Jarred exclaimed as he straightened up, and Tristan and Edison laughed.

"Looking smooth there, Jarred." Tristan said as he started eating his own serving of food.

"Food delicious. Surprising that Alliance Navy Officers know how to cook." Nicholas said as he took a bite of food, "Salarian food almost not as flavorful."

"After living on food packets on the Normandy, this is a good break." Amira said as she reached over and wiped a piece of sauce off Tristan's chin, and the man's eyes widened as she smiled, "Everyone's been eating like krogans."

Thanikah smiled as she watched Edison devour his steak, "Some more than others. You sure you're not half-krogan, Edison?"

Edison shrugged, "I wouldn't mind being half-krogan, if it would mean I could head-butt you right now, Thanikah."

She laughed, "I'd like to see you try."

"Well, our mission is going to start tomorrow." Tristan said, "I don't know if we're going to be able to do this. I mean, this is sort of dangerous. I just want to say… good luck to all of us, I guess."

Meiou raised her glass, "To all of us! May we save the fate of the Earth… and this island, tomorrow!"

Amira raised her glass as well, "And for more beach volleyball! Where the girls will win next time!"

All of them laughed as they raised their glasses, even Nicholas, for a toast. Tristan spilled a little of his drink, which caused all of them to laugh and poke fun of him being drunk.

Jane and Garrus watched as the kids laughed and ate, while Jarred and Meiou sat together, holding hands under the table. Garrus put his arms around his wife, "You little minx. You planned all of this, didn't you?"

Jane laughed, "The shore leave, no. The party, yes. They need to celebrate their friendship once in a while, like we did."

Garrus nodded, "Yeah. Every time we had a mission before, I always thought that I wanted to have some drinks with every one before we did." He nodded towards Jarred's group, "This will be a good way for them to bond."

"When I was the Spectre, I was too busy trying to save the galaxy that I didn't have any time for all of you. I talked to everyone, yes, but I never took the time to spend time with you, outside of the Normandy. I was happy when Joker suggested that party. It was the best thing we've ever done." Jane said, "They should have moments like these. With friends."

Garrus nodded again, and he held his wife tighter in his arms, "And now, we're with our friends again… although, with fewer people."

"Yeah. I miss them too." Jane said, "I miss all of them, alive or dead… I miss them. It's good to see everyone again, it's been way too long since they visited."

"Exactly." Garrus said, as he pulled on her hand, "Come on, let's mingle for a while. Let the kids have their time. It's been a while since we talked to everyone right? Let's enjoy the time we have with them now."

"Right behind you." Jane said as they headed to their old crew.


	24. Chapter 23

Jarred opened his eyes slowly, face down on his bed and his arm dangling on the edge, the light of the window waking him up. He yawned, still plopped down on his bed, and tried to lift his dangling arm, only to realize that someone was hanging on to his hand. He peeked down, only to see Meiou, who was sleeping on the floor in a mattress beside Amira. There was a place between her and Amira, where Thanikah had slept. Her hair spread around her as she curled up in a fetal position. Her fingers were entwined with his, and he felt her warm breath as she slept. He smiled, before extending out a finger and poking the tip of her nose.

Her violet eyes fluttered open and she yawned, looking up at Jarred, before snuggling into her pillow some more, "Five more minutes."

Jarred chuckled and he sat up, grasping her fingers to get her to stand up. She groaned as she playfully went limp as he pulled her up. He laughed, "Come on, get up already. Today's mission day."

Meiou groaned again, and he let her go, and she flopped down on the mattress again. He chuckled and bent down before her, "You'd better get up or else I'd pick you up."

"Make me, idiot." She said, still sleepily snuggling into her pillow.

He shrugged, "Suit yourself." And he bent down, putting his arms under neck and the back of her legs, and she giggled as he lifted her up and headed to the bathroom, which was luckily empty. He made her stand up and gently pushed her towards the shower. "You better be done with your shower in five minutes, or else I'm coming after you."

Meiou laughed as she finally straightened up and grasped the doorframe. But as she turned around, she had flirtatious smile that made Jarred's face blush. "Well, that threat just made me want to take a shower longer." And she closed the door.

Jarred headed down the stairs to get some breakfast, only to see that the kitchen was somewhat empty. Liara and Garrus were sitting on the dining table, drinking coffee, and his mother was cooking pancakes. Tristan, Edison and Nicholas sat on the coffee table by the living room, going over their flight plan. He took a mug of coffee and settled down the kitchen, "Hey, Mom. Where's everybody?"

Jane smiled at her son as she lowered a plate of food in front of him, "They left early this morning. Joker used a different ship to transport them all. Kaidan, Samara and Tali had some Council business to take care of, and Wrex went with them to discuss the krogan settlement here on Earth. Jack and James left as well, they said they had new recruits to train. Which leaves you kids." She pointed to the front door, where Jarred can see a ship. "Your ship is outside. EDI is checking the preparations for the Normandy and had plugged into the AI Core. Grunt and Thanikah is out there clearing up the rest of the tent. The crew has made the preparations."

Jarred nodded and sighed, "Sorry we had to eat and run, Mom."

But Jane Vakarian shook her head, "You are on an important mission. Liara told me it's not that dangerous, but in my experience, there's a certain amount of danger in each mission." She smiled and stroked her son's mandible, "Come back to visit when everything is done, okay? Having everyone here made us very happy."

"Sure, Mom."

Footsteps sounded down the stairs, and Meiou emerged, her hair still wet, but she was wearing her armor again. She was combing her hair with her fingers, with Amira walking down behind her, her head hung low as if she's still sleepy. "Upstairs bathroom is free." Meiou said as she plopped down in the table beside Jarred, "Amira said she'll have some coffee first before taking a bath, so you can go on ahead, Jarred."

Jarred nodded as Amira plopped down on the table, and put her head in her hands, still groggy. Tristan stood up and placed a hot cup of coffee in front of her, and smiled. Amira smiled up at him as she accepted the cup. Jarred and Meiou looked at each other, and he winked before heading up the stairs to take a bath.

By the time Jarred had finished bathing and dressing, Amira had finished her bath on the bathroom downstairs, and everyone was getting ready to leave. He found Meiou in the living room, looking up at the pictures on the wall.

"That is the original Normandy crew… it was taken during a party they had during shore leave." Jarred said as he stood beside her.

"I see." She said, "I do not seem to recognize them all. I see your parents, and Kaidan, Tali, Wrex, Grunt, Samara, EDI, Jack and Joker. But who are the others? Can you tell me about them?"

"I can." And from behind them, Garrus stood and looked at the pictures as well. He started pointing out people, "That man is yellow is Zaeed Massani, he was a mercenary. He died a few years ago from old age. That girl in the hood is Kasumi Goto, we haven't heard from her since the Reaper War, but she's probably still around. These two are Miranda Lawson and Jacob Taylor, they are your Cerberus allies… they're the ones that give Jarred information about old Cerberus bases." He pointed at the picture again, "That one is Javik the Prothean… he… committed suicide when the Reaper Wars ended. That one is Steve Cortez, he's based in Mexico right now, and Samantha Traynor is in the Citadel as an Engineer."

"Any relation to Leena Traynor?" Meiou asked.

Garrus nodded, "Samantha's adopted daughter. I heard she passed her skills as an engineer to her."

Meiou nodded, and looked down at the smaller pictures below the large picture, "And this is Mordin Solus and… Thanikah's grandfather, Thane Krios?"

"Yes… the allies we have lost during the Reaper Wars." He picked up a picture of a brown-haired woman, "This one is Ashley Williams, we lost her when we were destroying one of Saren's bases in Virmire. And this one is David Anderson, Jane's superior. He led the resistance against the Reapers on Earth during the Reaper Wars. And that one with many people… that's the crew of the Normandy SR-1. They died during a Collector attack. And these ones…" Garrus picked up a picture of a turian couple, "My parents… Jarred's grandparents. They died a few years ago from old age. If it weren't for them, well, me and Jarred wouldn't exist at all."

Meiou nodded and looked at the pictures, "You've kept them all this time?"

Garrus nodded, "Yes. To remind us of all the people we've met, and those we have lost. We may have retired, but we know that every moment of peace we have, we owe to them, and to everyone."

She nodded, and looked at Jarred, "You know… we don't have a picture like this Jarred. Maybe we should have one?"

Jarred blinked, and his eyes softened, "The others aren't here anymore."

She shrugged, "Well, maybe we could still take it. A picture of the new Normandy crew."

"That sounds like a good idea, Jarred." Garrus said, "Arrange yourself in the sofa, I'll go call Grunt and Thanikah."

A few minutes… and a lot of pulling for Thanikah's part, everyone was finally settled on the sofa, except for Engineer Radley, who was still busy with the Normandy's final checks. He had smiled at Meiou when she told him its okay and said that 'he wasn't really a picture person'.

Jarred sat beside Meiou, and beside them sat Tristan and Amira. Grunt, Liara, Edison and Thanikah stood behind them. Jose Cruz and Leena Traynor were shy about getting their picture, but they sat down at the armrest beside Jarred and Amira.

"Alright! Everybody get ready!" Jane said as she held her OmniTool up to take a picture of them.

"Aren't you getting a picture with us?" Meiou asked, but Jane shook her head, "This is the new Normandy crew, Meiou. I've retired, so this picture is for you kids."

She nodded, and Jane raised her OmniTool, "Everybody say 'Normandy!'"

"NORMANDYYYY!"

There was a flash, and Jane synched up her OmniTool with them to share the picture. "Everyone gets a copy."

They all smiled as they looked at the picture, and got up to leave, thanking Jane and Garrus for their hospitality. Jane saw Jarred and Meiou with their heads together, looking at the picture through Meiou's OmniTool, smiling together. She smirked, "HEY!"

Jarred and Meiou looked up, still smiling, and there was a quick flash as Jane took a picture of them. A few seconds later, their faces became surprised, and Meiou blushed when she realized what happened, and Jarred groaned, "Mother!"

Garrus and Jane laughed as the rest of the crew did, and Jane sent the picture to her son, "Don't worry, Jarred. You get a copy, too."

Jarred's OmniTool pinged, and he opened up the picture. It showed him with his arm around her, while she was showing something in her OmniTool. They were both smiling, and he had to admit, they looked rather well. He blushed, "You could've just told us."

Jane laughed and started walking with them to the Normandy, with Garrus and the rest of the crew. Edison ran ahead to get into the bridge. She leaned over to Jarred and whispered, "I actually have a picture of Tristan and Amira, and Edison and Thanikah. You kids look really cute."

He shook his head, "Sheesh." And then he smiled as they reached the Normandy's Cargo Bay Door, "But send me those pictures will you? Maybe I can use it black mail them?"

Jane laughed as she pushed her son towards the Cargo Bay, and she stepped back to stand beside her husband, who put an arm around her shoulders. Meiou came forward and bowed, "Thank you so much for everything, Mrs. Vakarian… Mr. Vakarian."

Jane opened her arms to the girl and embraced her, "You take good care of yourself and my son, Meiou." She said, "Come back here any time. You're always welcome."

Meiou nodded and let go of the woman, running towards the Cargo Bay door as the Normandy started elevating. Jarred raised his arm and waved goodbye to his parents, and Meiou watched the couple as they shrank from view, and Edison closed the doors.

Jarred remained standing in the cargo bay as the rest of the crew headed inside crew deck, a worried look on his face, and Meiou stood beside him, and held his hand. "We'll come back when this mission is finished, Jarred. I promise."

He nodded and grasped her hand, and headed back into the Normandy's bridge as the cargo door closed.


	25. Chapter 24

"We're ready, Captain Alenko."

Tristan nodded as the Normandy left the Earth's orbit, his arms crossed as he watched the monitors in front of him. Edison is piloting the Normandy, with his mother sitting at the console beside him. "We have exactly an hour before the flares begin, Captain." EDI said, "Everything's in order. The latest retrofits have fitted the Normandy and the shuttle with additional defenses against the sun's heat. All we need to do now is to send Meiou to the Shield."

"The Shield?" Tristan asked, and Thanikah shrugged from behind Edison's seat, "That's what the quarian engineers called it when we were making it. They're not much on calling names."

"I heard that." Amira said from the InterComm, "If it was up to quarians, we would have called it something in our language, but you other species won't be able to pronounce it."

Tristan chuckled, "Shield is fine, Amira. It is what it's supposed to do anyway. Where are you?"

"I'm down here in the Cargo Bay, Tristan." Amira answered, "I will be taking Meiou to the Shield."

He nodded, "Alright, I'll go get her." He turned around, heading for the galaxy map only to see Jarred and Meiou had already joined them. A miniature representation of the sun floated over the galaxy map, which showed a long vessel, its tip facing the sun, which Tristan guessed is the Shield. Several circles dotted the atmosphere around the sun, making a distinct pattern, which happened to be the Biotic Relays. Meiou looked worried, looking at the ship's schematics of the Shield, her hand clasped on her chest. Jarred stood beside her, and he had his arm around her.

He came to her and nodded slightly, "You ready?"

Her violet eyes rose him, looking fearful, but she closed them, and the fear vanished, showing only determination, "Yes."

"Captain Alenko?" Engineer Radley came forward and saluted, "I've been ordered by Dr. T'Soni to bring Ms. Seishiro to the shuttle. She had received some new intelligence on Cerberus, and would be very busy for today. I will be her replacement for the final checks and launching of the Shield."

"Okay." Tristan looked down at Meiou and saw that she was holding Jarred's hand tightly, "You'll be fine, Meiou. Head down to the shuttle when you're ready."

Tristan headed back to the bridge, and Engineer Radley nodded at Meiou, "Please head down to the shuttle, Ms. Seishiro."

As the human left, Jarred felt like he was glaring at him again, and he turned to Meiou, "That engineer has been giving me the creeps since he came aboard. Are you sure you're okay to go with him?"

"I have to, Jarred. I don't want to Earth to be turned to a crisp." She said, and she smiled up at him, "Besides, I promised you we'll go back to Surin Island when this is all over. We still have to reclaim our honor at beach volleyball."

Jarred chuckled, "Yeah, I guess so." But he sighed, and leaned forward, looking down at their hands. "Be careful, Meiou."

She smiled, and leaned forward as well, her forehead touching his. His eyes widened, remembering that his mother did the same to him and her father. It was the turian way of saying 'I love you'. She reached up and touched his mandible, "I'll come back to you." She leaned forward again, kissing his lips before moving back.

Jarred didn't feel like letting her go. There was something in his gut that seemed to wrench as she started walking away from him, her fingers slowly slipping from him. Finally she let go, smiling at him before walking towards the elevators to head to the shuttle.

He swallowed, lowering his head. Something didn't feel right to him. It was a nagging feeling that he had never felt before. He headed to the bridge to talk to Tristan.

"Tristan." Jarred said and the young captain turned to him, "Something doesn't feel right."

At this, Tristan's brows furrowed, "What do you mean?"

Jarred shrugged, "I don't know. I just feel it. Like something's wrong. Like there's something… off."

"Don't you think you're just nervous about Meiou being in the Shield?" His friend said.

"I don't know. I just…" He sighed, "There's something wrong. I could feel it."

"Tristan, Meiou and Amira are in the Shield." EDI announced, and they turned to her, "Opening communication channels."

The screen in front of them flickered to life, and they saw Meiou standing before a sphere console, removing her gloves. Engineer Radley was operating on a console, and Amira on another. "Why are you removing your gloves, Meiou?" Amira asked.

"Jack said it's to make sure that nothing hinders my biotic energy." Meiou said, "I'm not sure how it works either, but it does."

"All set, Ms. Meiou… Ms. Amira." Engineer Radley said, and Meiou nodded, placing her hands on the round console, and spreading her stance, "Please release your biotic energy in 3…. 2…. 1."

Jarred, Tristan, Edison and Thanikah watched as Meiou's body glowed blue from biotic energy, and from another screen, they watched the Shield vessel release a ray of biotic energy. Jack's training had worked, her shield spreading out faster and wider than the Citadel as they watched. The energy spread out to the relays, spreading it to other ways in a chain reaction. Pretty soon, the whole sun was encompassed with blue biotic energy.

"Wow…" Tristan watched in amazement, and Thanikah nodded in agreement.

Jarred stared hard at the screen, watching Meiou as she concentrated, pushing her biotic limits. He saw beads of sweat starting to form on her face. He saw Amira press something on the monitor.

"The temperature is increasing!" Amira cried, and he heard Meiou grunt in exertion, "Get ready, Meiou! Strongest flare to occur in… 3… 2… 1!"

The Normandy crew watched as the sun glowed bright, turning bright yellow, and fire seemed to explode from inside the biotic bubble. Meiou yelled, pushing her shields to hold, the blue biotic field pulsing. And finally, the flares lessened, cooling down to an orange color. The biotic shields faded, but there was not much change after it disappeared. They had done it.

"YES!" Tristan cried as the Normandy cheered and clapped, and Jarred breathed a sigh of relief as he watched Meiou let go of the console, stepping back, a bit unsteady on her feet. She seemed to look at the camera, and she smiled tiredly, her chest heaving from her efforts. It was then that Jarred noticed something. He pulled at Tristan's arm.

"Tristan, where's Nicholas?" Jarred asked, "Shouldn't he be in the Shroud, checking Meiou's vitals?"

At this, Tristan's eyes widened as he remembered, but as he opened his mouth, somebody cut him off.

"Lieutenant Commander Vancair!" Leena Traynor shouted, running towards the bridge and Jarred turned to her, "There's a transmission from your parents. Something's happening."

"What?!" Jarred said, looking at Tristan, and they ran towards the terminal. Jarred pressed a button, and soon the sounds of explosions greeted his ears.

"Mom! Dad!" Jarred cried out at the microphone, "What's going on?"

"I don't know!" Garrus' voice drifted from the speakers, "When you guys left, these ships came down and started shooting at us!"

"It's Cerberus, Jarred!" Jane's voice shouted, "They found us!"

Jarred and Tristan's eyes widened, "What?! How can that happen?"

"I don't know! Go ask Liara!" Garrus said, and Jarred heard a pistol going off, "Nice shot, Jane! Listen, we're going to try and get out of here. We'll contact you when we're safe. Get me my sniper rifle, sweetheart."

Shots rang out from the speakers, and it sounded like Garrus had finally has his hands on a sniper rifle. Jarred could hear footsteps and soon his mother's voice spoke again, "We'll contact you when we can, Jarred. Don't worry. Just…"

But the transmission ended, and static filled the speaker. Jarred pressed the button frantically, "Mom! Dad!"

Tristan laid a hand on his shoulder, "Come on, let's find Liara."

Jarred and Tristan headed to Liara's side of the ship, only to see that it was empty. Jarred looked around, trying to find the asari, but he found a slim-three fingered hand instead.

"NICHOLAS!" Jarred shouted in despair, and pushed a table away from the salarian. Nicholas was unconscious, his eyes closed, and green blood was coming out the side of his torso. Jarred felt for a pulse on the salarian's neck, and Tristan began applying medigel to his wounds.

"He's alive, but barely." Jarred said, and he looked up to see Grunt, lying on his side, thick red krogan blood spilling from a wound on his shoulder, but he was breathing. Tristan went to the krogan and applied medigel as well, as Jarred put a hand on his ear, "Thanikah, get over here in Liara's office. Nicholas and Grunt are shot. I can't find Liara."

"What?!" Edison and Thanikah both cried out, and Jarred heard footsteps as Thanikah ran from the bridge. Soon the door opened and the drell appeared beside Jarred, "I'll take him to the med bay right now." She said, and she helped pull the salarian up as Tristan did the same to Grunt, who was awake now but heaving in pain.

"Jarred…"

He turned around to see Liara, on the floor with her head on her hand. He rushed to her and thanked the Spirits to see that she was not bleeding. "Liara, are you hurt?"

"It was that Engineer… Radley." Liara said as Jarred helped her up, "He was a Cerberus spy, Jarred. But it didn't show up in my files. He was so well-hidden… he knocked me out and took the coordinates to your parent's island."

"Why?! Why does he want to kill my parents?" Jarred said as he helped her walk towards the medbay.

"Revenge, I guess." Liara said, "They've been after Jane for ages…"

"Jarred! Tristan!" Edison's voice shouted from their earphones, "There's a Cerberus ship heading for the Shield!"

"Damn…" Jarred said, "So this was the bad feeling I was getting."

"Go! I'll be okay." Liara said as they reached the medbay, and she sat in one of the beds, "I'll take care of Grunt and Nicholas. They might be after Meiou. Go!"

Tristan and Jarred sprinted from the med bay as Liara began gathering supplies, with Thanikah helping her, they headed to the bridge to see that the camera's that showed the inside of the shield has gone static. Another screen showed that the sun's flares are finally done, and the biotic shield is gone. Jarred saw a cruiser heading towards the Shield.

"Can you reach Amira?" Tristan asked worriedly, but Edison shook his head, "I tried, but the communications are down. I heard what Liara said, I think Radley hacked the communications." He pressed a few buttons on the screen, "With the shuttle gone, I'm going to have to get you there myself. Put your helmets on and head to the cargo bay. You're going to have to jump from there."

"Alright." Tristan and Jarred said as they ran to the cargo hold, putting on their helmets and preparing their weapons. Jarred could feel his hands shaking in anger as he loaded fresh clips to his assault rifle. Tristan nodded to him, and he followed the captain to the cargo bay doors as they opened on the airlock connecting to the Shield.

"Tristan, I detected only one Cerberus vessel near the Shield." EDI said from their Comms. "It has launched a shuttle headed for the Cargo Bay."

At this Jarred finally understood, "Damn it! They're taking Meiou!"

Jarred and Tristan ran into the Shield, before entering the area where Amira and Meiou was. They looked around, and finally located Amira on the floor, near the console.

"AMIRA!" Tristan cried in despair as he bent over the quarian, who was now bleeding from her abdomen. Jarred scanned her with his OmniTool. "Damn it." He stood up and fiddled with the console, "Normandy, do you copy? I need an evac! Amira's hurt!"

"Hang on! We're on our way now!" It was Lenna Traynor, "I've got Jose with me."

"Tristan, you'd better stay here with Amira." Jarred said as his captain covered the quarian's wounds with medigel, "Traynor and Cruz are on the way. I'll see if I can reach Radley."

Tristan nodded, determined to keep Amira alive as Jarred ran ahead. He saw a few Cerberus soldiers loading a black and glass tank into a shuttle, with Radley directing them. He squinted as he ran, and saw a human in the tank, her eyes closed.

"GIVE HER BACK, YOU BASTARD!" Jarred cried out as he pulled the trigger on his assault rifle, killing some of the soldiers, but Radley had loaded Meiou's tank into the shuttle and was starting to hover away. Radley had the guts to look back at Jarred and smirk, as the shuttle hovered. Jarred grit his teeth, and loaded a single cartridge on his sniper rifle using his legs. He lifted the rifle, and took aim.

The shuttle was several meters away from him, but he took a deep breath, and exhaled, squeezing the trigger. He saw his bullet hit the mark, hitting a part of the back end of the shuttle.

Somebody closed the cargo doors again and he looked up to see a human, with dark skin and blue eyes, holding a rifle. It was Jose Cruz.

"Lieutenant Commander Vancair!" Jose said as he helped the turian-human up, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He said as he stood, and started walking back, "Did you get Amira? How is she?"

"Ms. Krios is with her now. She and Traynor took her to the med-bay on the Normandy. Captain Alenko has also headed to the Normandy to check on Grunt and Nicholas." The Alliance engineer said as he walked beside him. "Ms. Amira's wound is… pretty bad, and her suit sprang a leak. They're doing the best they can to help her. Nicholas was shot pretty badly, but he's alive and in recovery. Grunt has fully healed and is awaiting Captain Alenko's orders."

"Thank the spirits for krogan metabolism." Jarred said as he and the engineer headed out of the Shield. There was a shuttle waiting for them, and Cruz quickly jumped into the pilot's seat. Jarred looked down at the floor to see blood all over it. He swallowed, "Are you sure Amira's going to be alright?"

"Yes, sir. She is stable." Cruz said as he piloted the shuttle out of the Shield and towards the shuttle bay of the Normandy. "Ms. Thanikah has ensured us that she will make a full recovery, provided she does not get any infection."

"Any news on my parents?" Jarred said.

The human was quiet as he lowered the shuttle, finally he said, "No, sir. I'm sorry."

Jarred jumped out of the shuttle as soon as Jose landed and half-ran towards the elevator and to the Med Bay, but it was closed. He peered through the window to see Nicholas sitting on a bed, pale, but still alive. He gave a small smile to Jarred and raised a finger to his ear, "Sorry, Jarred. Cannot come in. Thanikah and Liara conducting sterilization and observation on Amira's injuries. Too weak to assist, but giving instruction."

"How are you feeling, Nick?" Jarred said.

"Felt better. But happily not joining Mordin Solus yet." The salarian gave a weak chuckle, "Thanikah actually a good medic. Considering taking her as apprentice." But soon he frowned, "Meiou kidnapped?"

He nodded, and Nicholas slowly shook his head, "Implications are problematic. Cerberus going to conduct experimentation again. Must find them as soon as possible."

"I'll take care of it Nicholas." Jarred said, "You just rest up. I'll get her back, I promise."

The salarian nodded and leaned back into his bed as Jarred headed to the bridge, where Tristan and Grunt stood behind Edison.

"Tristan." Jarred said as he entered, "Is the Cerberus ship gone?"

Tristan turned to face him to see that the captain looked a little tired, "Yeah. It's gone."

Jarred realized what was really worrying his friend and he gave him a pat on his shoulder, "Hey, man. Amira's going to be okay. Thanikah and Liara is not going to let her down."

He nodded, and sighed, "The question now is where they headed. They just took the Relay to God knows where."

Jarred smirked, "I did just plant a tracker on the Cerberus shuttle."

At this, Tristan chuckled, "Good work. Edison, see if you can get a position on Jarred's tracker."

Edison nodded, "Already on it, Tristan. They seem to have headed over the Artemis Tau cluster. Looks like they're hovering over the Spartan system."

"Then that's where we'll go." Tristan said, before looking up at Grunt, "You fit for duty, Grunt?"

At this, krogan grinned, and showed the scarring that had healed. "I'm always ready."

"Captain Alenko?" Traynor said from the CIC, "There's an untraceable message coming in. It's a female, but she won't say who she is."

Jarred and Tristan looked at each other, "Patch it through." And Traynor saluted as she pressed the button and Tristan spoke, "This is Captain Tristan Alenko of the Normandy. Who are you and how are you able to contact us?"

"That's strange. I haven't contacted this ship in ages, but the name is familiar." Said a soft female voice in the intercom, and Grunt's back straightened, "Alenko… Alenko… I know I've heard it from somewhere. I think Shep mentioned him once…"

Jarred blinked, "'Shep?' You mean Commander Shepard?"

"Ah, you know her?" The woman said again, "I would've thought that she'd still be running the Normandy, but I guess she really is gone from the Reaper Wars."

"Kasumi Goto." Grunt chuckled, and Tristan and Jarred looked up at the krogan, "You sneaky little thief. Where have you been?"

"Oh! Is that Grunt?!" The voice exclaimed, "Well, there's a voice I remember. How have you been, Grunt? I haven't seen you since we had Shepard's shore leave party."

"I've been good." Grunt said, "Captain Alenko and his team are my _krantt_ now. He's Councilor Kaidan Alenko's son. His father used to work with Shepard."

"Ah yes, I remember now. Kaidan was that Alliance guy in the party, doing push-ups with James and Jacob." Kasumi said again, "Anyway, so I'm guessing this Alenko kid is the main man now? Then I have some information for you that you might want to hear."

"Let's hear it." Tristan said.

"I've stowed away on a Cerberus ship." Kasumi said, "A woman has just been boarded…"

"Is it a human? With white hair and skin and violet eyes?" Jarred asked immediately, "Is she alright?!"

"So she's with you?" Kasumi said, "She's fine, but she's bound up tight. A lot of security detail, too. She had a helmet on and she can't see a thing. Apparently, it's so she can't use her 'abilities', at least that's what I've heard. We're at the orbit of Sparta."

"Yeah, we figured out as much." Tristan said, "Is there any way we could infiltrate that base without being detected?"

"If your shuttle has activated stealth systems, then you can enter from the top side of the cruiser." Kasumi said, "I can hack my way into opening one of the airlocks, but you would need to hurry. Once they've detected that the airlock is open, I'm pretty sure they would come and investigate. I can make myself undetected if I can, unfortunately I can't say the same for you guys."

"That would be enough." Jarred said, "We're on our way as we speak."

"You'd better hurry." Kasumi said, "She's safe for now, but I've heard that she's scheduled for experimentation soon. And from what I've seen before with Cerberus, she won't last long if that happens. You might as well be rescuing a corpse…"

Jarred and Tristan looked at each other and Jarred swallowed. He began praying to all the Spirits that he would still be able to get to her alive.


	26. Chapter 25

Jarred, Tristan and Grunt sat down in the shuttle, with Jose piloting it. Jarred felt like cracking his knuckles, and was still praying to be able to save Meiou.

With Amira and Nicholas injured and Liara still slightly sluggish from her hit, Thanikah decided to stay behind in the Normandy to prepare the med bay in case of emergencies. Edison hovered the Normandy several feet away from the cruiser, getting ready to strike if anything happens.

"Directly above the airlock, Captain." Jose said, and Tristan nodded as he contacted Kasumi. "We're here, Kasumi."

"Hold on. I'm hacking the system now." Kasumi said, and soon an airlock opened near them. But at the same time, ship wide alert sounded on the cruiser. "Damn… these Cerberus ships have way too paranoid engineers. I'll draw them for a bit, but you'd better hurry."

Jose landed the shuttle near the airlock, and the three of them stepped out. Even Jose took an assault rifle and headed out to defend the shuttle as the three of them charged. Tristan nodded at the yeoman, "Cruz, you stay and guard the shuttle while we head in."

"Yes, captain." Jose said, and hunkered down near the airlock heading to the shuttle as the three of them charged.

Shots were ringing a few meters from them, and the three ran ahead to see the Cerberus guards shooting at a crate. One of the soldiers came closer to investigate, but as he did, a woman uncloaked from behind him and stabbed him with her OmniTool, before disappearing again. The three of them brought out their guns and started shooting at the guards, as the woman re-appeared near Tristan. She was wearing a black and grey suit, with a hood covering her features, so that her nose and lips were the only thing visible about her. Two strips of violet markings were on her lower lip and chin, and she smirked as she crouched beside him.

"You must be Tristan Alenko." She said, "Kasumi Goto."

"This is Jarred Vancair, my LC." Tristan said as Jarred shot another Cerberus agent, "And of course, you know Grunt."

"Pleasure." She said as she aimed her pistol at another soldier and shot, "I wish we had time for pleasantries, but we're going to have to move. They have taken the girl to the Operating Room."

"Her name is Meiou Seishiro." Jarred said as they cleared out the soldiers and jogged toward the doors. "She was a Cerberus experiment, but we got her out. They took her after she saved Earth from the solar flare."

"I see. That explains everything." Kasumi said, as she took out her OmniTool and hacked the door, "I expect there would be a lot of soldier when we come in through this door. Grunt and I will cover you. You must get into that room as soon as possible if you won't want to save just pieces of her."

Jarred and Tristan nodded, and as soon as they doors opened, they dived for cover, and Kasumi disappeared again as Grunt started shooting. They headed for another door just to the side of the room, as Grunt shouted, "Ha! Just like old times, Kasumi!"

"This would've been fun if Shep was still around." Kasumi said as she reappeared behind one soldier, stabbed him and fired her pistol at another. "I do miss the old gang. Chat me up while we work, will you, Grunt?"

Tristan shook his head as they entered the door, but he could still hear Grunt laughing as he chatted with Kasumi while shooting. "I don't know about you, but it seems like your mother recruited the most insane people in her time."

Jarred grinned, "Yeah, she did." But as they headed for the door, his grin faded, "Come on, let's get going."

Jarred and Tristan headed for the door, but as it turns out, it was the cargo hold, with lots of Cerberus soldiers. They dived for cover as the soldiers started shooting.

"Tristan!" Edison shouted from his earpiece, "Guess what? I got reinforcements!"

"Don't even think about sending Amira or Nicholas here, Edison!"

"Don't worry, he won't." A familiar voice sounded on their earpieces.

"Mr. Moreau?!" Jarred said, "What are you doing here?"

"Edison told me you guys are in for a shit storm!" Joker said, "He relayed your coordinates to me, and I was able to pick some friends up with me. We can't have you kids have all the fun!"

"Yeah! Time to kick some Cerberus _cajones_!"

"Instructor Vega?!" Jarred said as they hunkered down a crate, and shot more Cerberus blocking their way. "Who else is with you?!"

"I am!" A feminine voice said, and Jarred immediately recognized her as Jack, Meiou's instructor. "I will destroy you Cerberus fuckers!"

"I am here as well!" Councilor Samara's voice sounded, "It has been a while since I done battle. I shall be as relentless as I once was."

"We're directly at the room behind of you, _chico!" _James said from their earpieces, "The OR is at the door to the left. We'll make sure no more of these _pendejos_ get to you. Get to Meiou!"

The door they just came through opened, and Samara, James and Jack came out, firing pistols. Samara raised a barrier to shield them, and Jack's form became enveloped in blue biotic energy, and she released it on a group of soldiers, which started floating. James took aim and shot at them, and his gaze met with Jarred's. "What are you two _estupidos_ staring at?! Get going!"

"Yes, sir!" Jarred and Tristan cried out as they exited the room using the door to the left, which turned out to be a corridor. They stood by the door as Jarred hacked it open, and the moment it opened, they heard a voice.

"KILL THEM, YOU IDIOTS!"

They dived for cover at the consoles near them as the Cerberus troops shot at them, and Jarred flinched as one of the bullets almost caught the top of his fringe. He raised his assault rifle and shot, noticing the bound form strapped on a vertical gurney several feet from them. Jarred could tell it was Meiou, even though she was strapped down to the gurney. A sort of jacket with buckles encased her arm, and tied her down, and a metal helmet covered her head. She was struggling against the confines. He ducked down again.

"Meiou's bound behind them. We have to kill them all before we could get to her…"

But Jarred flinched as a bullet narrowly missed his head, and he had to crouch lower against the crate.

"YOU WILL NOT SHOOT AT MY SON!"

"Mom?!" Jarred cried out as the doors behind them opened again, and Jane Vakarian, Councilor Alenko and Councilor Tali came out with guns blazing. Like a possessed berserker, Jane ran ahead and shot at the soldiers, and opened her OmniBlade as she stabbed one of the soldiers. "Sweetheart, are you alright?"

"Yeah! I'm fine!" Jarred said as Tristan laughed, "Damn! This is one hell of a reunion!"

"Shep?! You're alive?!" Kasumi's voice said from the Comm channel, "Well, I'll be… you owe me a drink and an explanation when this is over!"

"These _bosh'tets_ hurt my daughter!" Councilor Tali cried out as she fired her pistol, "You NEVER mess with the Quarian Councilor's daughter!"

"This brings back memories, eh, Garrus?!" Kaidan said, and a soldier near them dropped dead, a bullet hole in his head.

"Scoped and dropped!" Garrus' voice came through their communicators, and Tristan looked up at the rafters above them to see him crouched down, sniper rifle in hand "Damn, pressing the trigger feels so damn _good!"_

"Dad?!" Jarred cried out again, "What are you guys doing here?!"

"These Cerberus idiots bombed up our island!" Jane said as she kept shooting, "Luckily, your dad's calibrations of the family car were useful. He got us out quick as a flash and got out of there. Joker picked up our distress signal and he asked permission from Kaidan to use the SSV Valkyrie to pick us up."

"And then we heard they kidnapped Meiou." Garrus said as he aimed at another soldier's head and shot, "And nobody kidnaps my future daughter-in-law!"

Jarred's eyes widened, and he looked down at Tristan, whose cheeks were puffed up in an effort of not bursting into laughter. He thumped his friend on the head, "Quit laughing!"

Tristan chuckled instead and looked up at Garrus, "Where's Radley?"

Garrus peered through his sniper scope, "They've lowered the vertical gurney… and Radley and some soldiers are wheeling it to another room…"

"Tristan!" Edison's voice broke through their exchange, "We've got Cerberus ships coming in! Looks like Radley called for back up! One of them is headed for the cargo bay in front of you!"

"We can take them, son!" Joker said, "Come on, show me what you've got, kid!"

Edison laughed, "I was trained by the best damned pilot in the history of the Alliance, dad! But fine, I'll show you!"

The father and-son banter stopped as the two pilots made work of the Cerberus ships outside, and Jane's voice filled their earpieces again. "I think Radley's going to run. We'll cover you, Jarred and Tristan! Get to the door!"

"Be careful down there, honey!" Garrus said from his perch, "You're not as young as you used to be… you're already at retirement age!"

"This old lady can still kick ass!" Jane said, "Besides, anyone who fucks up with my family deserves a bullet in the head!"

"Same goes for us!" Kaidan said and Tali nodded beside him, "Let's kick these _bosh'tets_ out the airlock!"

Jarred and Tristan ran ahead as the others provided them with cover fire, and Jarred pressed open the door, only to see that a shuttle had started rising, and he could see Radley scrambling inside it. "NO! NOT AGAIN!"

"GGGRAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Something heavy hit the shuttle from the rafters, and it fell down to floor in a crash, causing Radley to get flung back. Jarred and Tristan watched as Urdnot Shepard jumped down, "And THAT'S how you do a krogan airdrop, shit-slinging pyjaks!"

He went into the shuttle, and they watched as Cerberus soldiers started flying out of the doors, before falling unconscious to the floor. After a few moments, Shepard came out, holding the bound figure out of the shuttle. Jarred and Tristan ran to him as he grinned, but suddenly the krogan got flung back as he got shot in the shoulder, making him drop Meiou in the process.

Radley had regained his consciousness and picked up Meiou's bound form. Jarred and Tristan raised their pistols but Radley raised his pistol to Meiou's unprotected chin.

"Ah! No." Radley said as the pressed the barrel of his pistol, "Put it down, or her brain will get splattered to shit inside this helmet."

Jarred and Tristan scowled at him and slowly, Jarred brought down his assault rifle, and Tristan did the same. Urdnot Shepard grunted, and stood up. "You, krogan. Stand beside them. NOW!" Radley shouted, and Shepard walked and stood beside Tristan.

"Let her go." Jarred said, but Radley merely laughed, "She's Cerberus, Vancair. She is ours. Our experiment. Our technology."

"You're wrong. You kidnapped her. You killed her adopted father, and then tortured her to see how far her abilities go. You froze her and kept her in the dark for years." Jarred said again, seething.

"The crash of the Cerberus base on Lesuss was… unexpected." Radley said, "We did do all the rest of the things you said, but within reason…"

"And what sort of stupid reason is that?" Jarred nearly shouted, but he shut up as Radley pressed the pistol harder to Meiou's chin. He heard her whimper in pain against her constraints.

"Careful, Vancair." He smirked, "You don't want this woman's blood in your hands now do you?"

Jarred grit his teeth as Radley spoke again. "This… 'Meiou Seishiro'… will be a new kind of human. A human with telepathic abilities and biotic powers. With proper genetic experimentation, we could reproduce more like her… super humans with the ability to rival Asaris in biotic powers. Or we could also do cloning." He laughed, "We cloned your mother, and we cloned Kai Leng. I think we can clone her as well. Although…" His laughter faded and he brought his face closer to her neck, "With something as beautiful as this… I prefer the reproduction…"

Radley grinned lecherously as he stuck out her tongue and licked Meiou's neck, and Jarred saw red. He let out a growl, intending to charge the human, but a choking sound stopped him.

Radley's face registered a look of surprise as something seem to crush his throat, and he let go of Meiou as he raised his hand up to his neck. Meiou fell down to her knees on the floor, but she shifted her feet as she stood, and Radley continued to choke as he got lifted through the air.

Meiou stood up, blue biotic energy flaring all around her, and soon her abilities shredded her constraints. They saw her biotics flare again, and her helmet seemed to fall into pieces at her feet, her silver hair coming down. Her face was wet with tears, but her eyes were filled with anger and hatred as she looked up at Radley. Her biotics flared again as she took a step towards the floating human.

"No more." She whispered vehemently, "I have had enough. I am done with your experiments. I am done with your torture. I am done with your inhumanity. I… am… DONE!"

She raised her hand and flung Radley away, and the human hit the metal wall. He collapsed on the floor, and raised his pistol at her. He shot at her, but she merely deflected it with her biotics as she walked menacingly towards him.

She enclosed a hand on Radley's neck, and lifted him up, using both her physical prowess and biotics. She gripped his neck hard as she seethed, "As Samara once said… 'May you find peace in the arms of the Goddess.'"

But Radley merely laughed, "And you… find torture in Hell, bitch!"

Radley raised his pistol to her stomach and pulled the trigger, and Meiou was unable to catch it. Blood sprayed behind her as the bullet went through her, and she gasped at the pain. She growled, and her biotics flared, as she slowly crushed his head with her powers. She let him go, his body falling down the floor with a thud.

"MEIOU!" Jarred screamed, and she turned to him. He stared at her, and she smiled lovingly at him, before she leaned back. He ran and caught her before she hit the floor, and he placed a hand on her wound to stop the bleeding. He looked behind him to see Tristan and Shepard, blinking in shock at what just happened. "HELP ME!"

Tristan and Urdnot Shepard ran forward, bringing out packets of MediGel for her as she lay in Jarred's arms. Tristan put a finger in his ear, "Normandy, we need an evac right now! Tell Thanikah to prepare the Med Bay!"

"Understood." Thanikah said, "The Med Bay is prepped. Who's injured?"

"Meiou." Tristan said as he scanned her with his OmniTool, "Gunshot to the abdomen."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line, before Thanikah spoke again, "Then what the hell are you waiting for?! GET HER IN HERE!"

Tristan blinked in surprised at Thanikah's genuine concern for the girl. And he looked at Jarred, "Come on, man. We have to get her out of here."

Jarred looked around, and remembered the gurney in the shuttle, "Get the gurney from that shuttle they came from. We have to keep her still. Tell Edison to open up the Normandy's cargo bay from here."

"Edison, did you hear that?" Tristan said to his earpiece and the pilot answered, "Yes, Captain. Bringing it around now."

The door to the cargo area opened, and the rest of the gang piled in. Jane Vakarian had an arm around her husband and Kasumi Goto, but when she saw the look on her son's face, she ran forward.

"Jarred, what happened?" She asked as she bent down beside her son, and saw Meiou's pale face smiling up at her, her blood pooling at her feet. "Oh my God…"

Jarred looked up helpless at his mother, his eyes watering, "Mom… save her… please…"

Jane nodded as she helped Tristan get the gurney from inside the shuttle.

"Hang on, Meiou!" Jarred said as he held her, using his OmniTool to try and seal the bleeding with medigel. "Just… hang on. We're getting out of here."

Meiou pulled on his armor. He looked at her to see her staring at him, her eyelids fluttering as if she was trying to force them open. She pulled him down, and when he did, she touched her forehead to his, clinging to his shoulders. She smiled as blood dripped down her lip again.

"No…" Jarred whispered as he hugged her closer, "No. Stay awake. Please…"

She smiled peacefully again, "I… am not afraid of… the dark anymore… not afraid… of being locked…"

He nodded, "Yes. You were so brave…"

She grinned, her teeth red with blood, "I came back… to you…" but she coughed, and blood bubbled down the side of her lip.

His teeth ground as he touched her face, "Then come back from this. Don't leave me in the dark. You are my light. Do not leave me."

Meiou's eyes watered with tears and they fell down to her white hair. "My light…" She said, but her eyes widened and she gasped in pain, before she grew quiet and still in his arms.

"No! No! NO! NO! NO!" Jarred shouted as he shook her, "Wake up… wake up please…"

The rest of the crew stood back, watching the scene unfold before them. Tristan and Jane were bringing the gurney out from the shuttle when they saw Jarred holding on to Meiou's limp body. Garrus came forward and kneeled beside his son, as Jarred sobbed. "Let go for a minute, son. Come on… we got to load her up…"

Jarred stepped back as Tristan and Jane brought the gurney over and lifted her body into it. The Normandy hovered behind them, it's cargo doors open as Garrus and Tristan lifted the gurney and headed into it. Jarred ran beside them, still holding Meiou's limp hand, praying to all the spirits and gods he knew that she would still be alive.


	27. Chapter 26

Jarred straightened, running a hand under his chin where his sweat was dripping down. He looked up at the afternoon sun, looking at the skies, searching.

"Hey, Jarred! Bring up that sheet for me, will you?

He looked up at the roof, seeing his father reaching down at a thin piece of metal sheet leaning on the side of the house. He ran and lifted the sheet for his father, and he nodded in thanks. "They're probably on their way, Jarred." Garrus said as he laid the sheet down and melded it to the rest of the roof. "Just wait."

Jarred, his family and some of the Normandy crew were helping them with the rebuilding of their house in Surin Island. While Kaidan, Samara and Tali were busy with Council business, and Liara was busy scrubbing up the footage of their mission to save Meiou to hide Jane and Garrus again, the rest were busy building up walls and the roof of their ruined home. Kasumi, Nicholas and Amira were working on the house's previous programs that made it susceptible for both human and turian living, while Jane, Garrus, Tristan, Jarred, Thanikah, James, Jack, Grunt and Urdnot Wrex helped with its construction. It's been going on for about a month, and he was thankful that everything was going back to what it used to be.

"Everyone! Lunch time!" Jane said from the kitchen, which was one of the first things they built, but with so many people helping them, the table was set outside again, with a bunch of umbrellas to keep them in the shade. Several servings of food were on the table, with one side made especially for Garrus and Amira's dextro-amino foods. Everyone pretty much dropped what they were doing and headed down to the long table.

Jarred held the ladder as Garrus made his way down from the roof, and when his feet touched the ground, he stepped back and looked at their home. He stood beside his father, and Garrus put his arm around his son's shoulder as he looked up.

"I guess it was a good thing that Cerberus blew it up." Garrus said with a chuckle, "I've been meaning to get repairs done in that roof for ages."

"Most of our stuff got blown, Dad." Jarred said, "Pretty much the only thing we have left is that sky car. All our furniture… everything you guys ever invested in… it's gone."

"No, it's not." Garrus said, "Our furniture and appliances can be replaced. Your mother and I saved enough money during our military career to buy another house, even. But, that's not what we were focused on." He smiled proudly at his son, "We invested in you, and you're still here. I'm so proud of you, son. I am the luckiest turian alive to have the two of you in my life."

At this, Jarred smiled and he went with his father to eat with the crew. James tossed them a couple of drinks, and everyone on the crew was talking with each other. Garrus moved away to plant a kiss on Jane's lips as she served him a plate of turian food, and she smiled, touching her forehead to his.

Watching his parents exchange affection like that, made Jarred miss Meiou. The Alliance Military took her to Huerta Memorial after she was shot in that Cerberus Base by Radley, but he hadn't seen her since. He asked the Council… particularly Kaidan, Tali and Samara, if he could see her, but they said there was a lot of damage done to her by her ordeal and her wound, that it would take some time for her to recover. Kaidan ordered another month long shore time for the Normandy crew, and told Jarred to help his parents to rebuild their home. As it turns out, before Admiral Hackett's retirement ages ago, he had transferred his project of protecting the Vakarians to Kaidan.

He was getting restless, wanting to see Meiou, but Kaidan was right. Their house in Surin Island was in ruins, and it would take time to rebuild it. Luckily, Kaidan arranged for the whole crew to help, and pulled some strings so that Grunt, Jack, James, Wrex and Kasumi were able to assist as well. It was like their last shore leave before the mission, but this time it was longer. Samara was gracious enough to provide some of their own credits to pay for the food they were feeding the crew, since she had not much use for credits, since her daughter, Falare, was being well provided for at the Ardat-Yakshi monastery in Lesuss.

After they had their lunch, they rested before going to work. Jarred was staring out at the ocean when he heard the humming of familiar engines, and he looked up to see a shuttle coming down. He went to it as it landed.

Liara and EDI's mobile platform came out, along with Yeoman Jose Cruz, who smiled at Jarred. They smiled at them as the rest of the crew came forward and greeted everyone.

"Captain Alenko, the Council has requested the crew's presence in the Council Chambers." EDI said, "I've been ordered to get you back on to the ship."

"Liara, EDI… good to see you." Tristan said, "Have you done what my father wanted?"

The asari nodded, "Yes. It was a little hard, but I was able to delete the data that showed Jane and Garrus at the Cerberus base. The audio of their voices was also scrubbed." She smiled at her two friends, "It would be like you weren't there at all."

Jane and Garrus nodded, "Thanks, Liara. We owe you a lot."

The asari waved her hand, "You owe me nothing, Jane. But, we must hurry. I'm sorry to take them away when you're rebuilding, but the Council is looking for them."

Garrus nodded, "No problem, Liara." And he nodded at Jarred, who went aboard the shuttle, followed by Tristan, Nicholas, Thanikah, Amira and Grunt.

"Don't worry about a thing, guys!" Kasumi shouted as the shuttle started hovering, "We'll take care of everything!"

Jarred smiled down at Kasumi as the rest of the crew waved goodbye, and Jose closed the door of the shuttle as they headed out into orbit.


	28. Chapter 27

"Captain Tristan Alenko, please step forward."

Jarred and Tristan looked at each other, and Tristan came forward, and saluted the Council. The rest of the crew stayed back.

"We have read the reports on the Cerberus base you have mentioned." Tali said from behind her Council console, "The base has been seized by the Human Alliance, and they are now on the process of retrieving data from it."

"The data includes several other smaller Cerberus bases." Kaidan said, "It was a very important find, because this would mean we could find them faster." He looked proudly at his son, "You have done well, Captain Alenko."

Tristan bowed a little, "Thank you, Councilors."

Samara smiled, "Lieutenant Commander Jarred Vancair, please step forward beside Captain Alenko."

Jarred's brows furrowed but he stepped forward beside his best friend. They looked at each other, and Jarred looked confusedly at him, but he merely shrugged.

"Lieutenant Commander Vancair." Urdnot Mordin said, "We have also reviewed your files. Since your induction to the Alliance Military, you have done marvelous things beside Captain Alenko."

Councilor Victus ran a finger down his console, "Destroyed several Cerberus remnant bases… the rescue of 1,000 Council species from batarian slave traders… the prevention of an assassination attempt at a Citadel diplomat… involvement in the quelling of a Krogan insurgence at Virmire… arresting red sand dealers and users… and the rescue of Meiou Seishiro, a Cerberus experiment."

At the mention of Meiou's name, Jarred felt a bit of pain in his heart. He missed her very much.

"Because of you and Captain Alenko's stellar performance during the last few years…" Samara said, smiling down at them, "It is the decision of this Council to induct Captain Tristan Alenko and Lieutenant Commander Jarred Vancair… to the Spectres."

Jarred and Tristan's eyes widened in surprise, and from behind them, they heard Thanikah's gasp and Amira's small squeak of joy. Kaidan looked proudly at his son as he pressed a button and two consoles rose from under the floor. "Please step forward to the consoles, and place your hand on it for scanning."

The two of them stepped forward toward the consoles, both of them removing the gloves on their hands as they placed it on. The consoles began scanning their fingerprints.

"It is the decision of the Council that you be granted all the rights and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance Branch of the Citadel." Tali said as she pressed a button on her console.

Urdnot Mordin pressed a button as well, "Spectres are not trained, but chosen. Individuals forged in the fire of service and battle; those whose actions lift them above the rank and file."

"Spectres are an ideal, a symbol, the embodiment of courage, determination, and self-reliance. They are the right hand of the Council, instruments of our will." Councilor Victus said, pressing on his console.

"Spectres bear a great burden. Both our first and last line of defense, the safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold." Kaidan said, looking proudly at his son as he pressed a button.

"But we also know to trust your judgment. Your logic… as both soldiers and as species… is the reason why this Council will entrust the safety of the galaxy to you." Samara said as she pressed a button on her console, "Though the burden will be great, and though the decisions may become harsh, we, the Council, believe that you will lead all the Council Species into greatness."

Jarred looked down at the console as he stepped back, and he saw his picture from his Alliance records glow from orange to blue, his fingerprints encoded into his file, and soon, he looked at the part of his name, the rank before his name changing from 'Lieutenant Commander' to 'Spectre'. He swallowed.

"Spectre Jarred Vancair."

Jarred's head slowly looked up at Councilor Victus' face, and he was surprised to see that the turian had his mandibles flared in a smile, "You are the first turian-human Spectre. Had they been living, I'm sure your parents would be proud of you."

He blinked, and he remembered that Victus was kept in the dark at the state of his parents. He looked over to Kaidan, who winked. He nodded at the turian, "Yes. I'm sure they would be."

Kaidan nodded, "As Spectres, I would like to give you your next assignment. However, there is one more issue we need to address."

"With the betrayal and death of Engineer Chris Radley, it has come to our attention that the Normandy needs another crew member." Victus said, "But before that… Yeoman Jose Cruz, please step forward."

The human's eyes widened, but he came forward from the back of the crew, looking slightly nervous as he stood beside Jarred. He saluted, "Y… yes, Councilors?"

Tali looked down at her console, "If our sources were correct, you were helped during the creation of the Biotic Relays."

Jose nodded, "Y… yes, Councilor Tali."

"Your background also tells me that you are the son of Gabriella Daniels and Kenneth Donnelly. But when your parents separated, and your mother remarried, but you have remained in contact with your biological father, am I correct?"

"Yes, Councilor Tali." Jose said, "My step-father is Engineer Alejandro Ruiz Cruz of the SSV Ain Jalut. He and my parents taught me most of my engineering knowledge. I was an Engineer before I was reassigned as a Yeoman."

Urnot Mordin nodded, "Very well. We hereby assign Amira'Zorah nar Rannoch as the Normandy SR-2's Head Engineer. Engineer Jose Cruz, you are to assist Amira as engineer for the Normandy."

Jose sighed in relief, "Yes. Thank you, Councilors."

Kaidan sighed, "Which leaves the position of Yeoman empty." He looked up at Tristan, "Very well. Private Leena Traynor will fill the position of Yeoman, if she agrees to it."

Traynor nodded, "I do, Councilor."

"We will also be integrating a new member to your ranks." Samara said, a slight smile on her face, "She has recently finished her training with N7… breezed through it, in fact… and has been welcomed to the N7 as a Fury. I believe she would be an asset to your team once you've had new assignments." She looked over to her left, on the offices of the Council. "Please come out, N7 Fury Adept… Meiou Seishiro."

The door opened, and a sleek-looking female in light armor came out. Jarred looked up, his breath catching at his throat as she walked down from the Council offices, smiling at her friends. Because she had been under the N7 Program, she had changed her armor to the Fury Adepts' standard black and red armor, though her hood was down. She had also done something to her hair, so that it only reached to her waist now, and it was straight instead of her usual wavy hair. She stood in front of the Normandy crew, and saluted at Tristan, but she winked at them, causing them to smile.

Jarred looked up at Kaidan, who smiled at him, "I believe you still have a few days from the shore leave I gave you, but once it's done, I've sent details of your new assignments over to the Normandy's computers. Yeoman Traynor would be in charge of that. Spectre Vancair, don't forget to orient Fury Seishiro to her duties on the Normandy." He looked down at Jarred, and he winked, making the turian-human blush under his mandibles, "This Council is dismissed." And he nodded to his son, before he and the other Councilors headed back to their offices.

Meiou lowered her salute and looked at them, and immediately Thanikah, Nicholas and Amira rushed forward and hugged her. She laughed as her friends wrapped their arms around her, and smothered her in their arms.

"We thought you were dead….!"

"Omni-tool clearly shows you flat-lined…"

"Scared the shit out of me!"

"All right! Everybody calm down." Tristan said as he came forward, and Meiou saluted at him, smirking.

"It will be an honor to serve you, _Spectre_ Tristan Alenko." She said, her smirk turning into a full grin.

Tristan laughed, and saluted in return, before lowering his hand, and shaking hers. "An honor to have you on the Normandy, Fury Seishiro." He smirked and bent over to her to whisper to her ear, "Though I think the _other_ Spectre would like to have a word with you. Should I give you some time?"

Meiou laughed, but she nodded, and Tristan stepped back, "Okay, everyone. We'll talk to Meiou once we're back on the Normandy." He turned to her and smiled again, "Don't take too long, Fury Seishiro… Spectre Vancair."

At this, Jarred looked at his best friend, only to see him ushering the crew along back to the elevators, leaving him and Meiou on the Council Chambers. He swallowed as he looked down… not daring to look her in the eyes.

He watched as her feet came closer, her footsteps slightly echoing on the floor. "Hello… Jarred."

"Meiou."

Jarred felt his throat close a little as he said her name, and he swallowed, still looking down. His heart felt like it was pounding too hard, and he tried to breathe. Meiou took another step closer.

"Are… aren't you going to look at me?"

Her voice was a whisper, like she was confused. Jarred closed his eyes as he bent his head again, "I… I'm sorry. I… don't know what to say. I thought you were dead… I felt your last breath. You… you died in my arms…"

Jarred heard a small sound, as Meiou shook her head, "I… I did die. For a few minutes, but I… I fought back. I wanted to live. I wanted to stay alive. Thanikah and Nicholas fought so hard to keep my heart beating. I owe them my life."

"I thought I'd lost you. I grieved for you." Jarred said, still keeping his eyes closed.

"And I came back." He heard her say, "Do you remember what you told me back in that base? You told me I was your light? Well… you were my light too, Jarred. Something happened to me when I flat-lined…"

"Which is?"

There was a moment of silence, "When I… died… I thought I saw a light before me…" She said, "It was so… warm and comforting, like I wanted to go into the light and stay there. But then… then I saw another light behind me… and it was blue, and pulsing. Like it was beckoning me to go with it instead. And I… heard your voice, calling me… telling me to come back." He heard her footsteps again, "When I heard your voice, I couldn't dare leave you. So I went into the blue light instead. The next thing I knew, I was on a hospital bed."

"You… were the reason I wanted to live. The reason I fought. The reason I returned." She said, and Jarred heard her footsteps again, and he shivered when he felt her breath on his neck. "You told me to come back… it took a month, but I am here now. And I'm never leaving again."

"I… I'm afraid that you're just a dream…" Jarred said finally, "I saw you in my dreams so often… I'm afraid that if I open my eyes, you'd disappear."

Meiou giggled, "Then… open your eyes and find out if this really is a dream."

Slowly, Jarred opened his eyes, seeing the hands on his chest armor, the slim fingers grasping his collar. His eyes moved up to the leather-encased chest that was pressed against him, the straight white hair on slim soldiers, up the smooth white neck. He swallowed and continued to raise his eyes higher, to the smiling red lips, the delicate nose, and finally, to the violet eyes.

Their eyes met, and Jarred felt like his breath stopped entirely. Meiou smiled, and pulled at his collar, bringing his face to hers, and soon, their foreheads touched, and Jarred felt a jolt of electricity as her hands reached behind his head to caress the back of his short fringe.

The feeling of her hands on the back of his head woke him, and he suddenly pulled her into his arms, as her own arms wrapped around his neck. The feel and warmth of her body finally convinced him, and he buried his head on her neck, "Oh Spirits… you are real… you're alive. You came back…"

Meiou buried her face on his shoulder, and Jarred felt hot tears running down his neck even if it sounded like she was laughing, "That's what I've been telling you, you big goof."

Jarred chuckled as he tightened his hold on her a little, "Next time, smack me on the forehead when I don't believe what you're telling me."

Meiou's head threw back as she laughed, and Jarred couldn't help but laugh back. It was so good to hear her laugh again, to see her smiling face again. "I'll keep that in mind, though I might get in trouble for smacking a _Spectre_."

"No, you won't." Jarred said, "I'm a Spectre, I don't have to abide to Alliance rules to do my mission." He smirked down at her, "Which means I can pretty much do… _this!_"

Jarred bent over, holding on to Meiou's legs, and he lifted her up, slinging her like a sack on his shoulder. Meiou shrieked, but she was laughing as Jarred walked towards the elevators. "Jarred! No! Put me down…!"

"Ye-nope!" Jarred said as he pushed a button, "Councilor Alenko told me to orient you on your duties. So I am going to 'orient' you."

"Orient me?" Meiou said from Jarred's back, "On what duties?"

Jarred shrugged, making Meiou shake from his shoulder, "Well, as an Adept, you'll help us on battles, of course. On the Normandy… hmm… normal crew duty, I guess… cleaning the CIC, calibrations… the works." He smirked again as he smacked her bottom playfully, "As my woman, you'll have to… 'pop my heat sink' from time to time…" At this Meiou laughed again, and Jarred lowered her back down to her feet, and held her to his chest, and he lowered his lips to her ear, his breath tickling her, "And as my lover… as my light… you will guide me, help me… comfort me… and love me until my last breath. And I will do the same for you…"

Jarred licked her neck, and her breath hitched at her throat as she moaned, and he growled in wanting. Meiou pulled back a little, and put her hand at the back of his head as she kissed him, his mandibles flaring as he held her tight. She pulled back a little and smiled, "I will do all those and more for you… Spectre Vancair."

He grinned and put his forehead to hers as he ran a hand through her hair, "I love you, Meiou."

She smiled and kissed his mandible, "I love you, too, David Jarred Vakarian."

Jarred blinked at her, "Wait… what…? How did you…?"

She grinned at him as she reached back to her pocket, "I had some… heart to heart time with your mother, while you were taking a bath before the mission." She said, and she bit her lower lip… rather seductively, as she took out a keycard from her back pocket, "She also mentioned that you have an apartment in the Tiberius Towers… the one that she got from Anderson… where she and her crew had their shore leave before the Reaper Wars… and where you sleep alone… and… in her own words, where we can be… 'creative'."

Jarred blinked at her again, acknowledging the innuendo, "You've… changed, Meiou."

She shrugged, "I got a little… braver, I guess. Having a life and death situation does that to people." Her face turned pink as she looked at him, "Is the change… bad?"

Jarred shook his head as he smirked down at her, grabbing her wrist as he pulled her inside the elevator, "No. I love it."


	29. Chapter 28

_One year later…_

"DAMN!"

Jarred threw the offensive piece of cloth away from him, and almost kicked the edge of his bed, but he merely sat on it frustration, just as a timid knock sounded on the door, and Thanikah's head peaked inside, "Jarred?"

He sighed as he stood up, "Hey. Sorry. I… don't know how to do a tie to save my life."

Thanikah laughed as she took the necktie and made him stand up, pulling on his collar as she reached back and fixed it for him. "You look good, Jarred."

He smiled, "Thanks… you too, Thanikah." The drell rolled her eyes as he said, mainly because she wasn't used to the soft blue-green asari dress that she wore, "Your mom suggested this color, you know. I don't mind it, it's the cuts on the dress that kind of piss me off."

"Why? It looks pretty good at you."

She glared at him and pointed at her dress, which showed off the sides of her abdomen a generous view of her chest, "I hate the asari who made this."

"Come on." Jarred said as Thanikah finished the tie, "Edison likes it. He's been drooling since he saw you in that dress."

"Well, as much as I love him, he is a bit of a perv." Thanikah said as she smoothened the tie down and fixed Jarred's suit. "But I guess I should get used to it now… Amira and Tristan's wedding is going to happen in a few months."

"Yeah… maybe you should married next, Thanikah." Jarred said as he looked in the mirror, gazing at his reflection.

Thanikah scoffed, "We're still in the dating stage, Jarred. Don't rush us." She shrugged as she headed out the door. "Your dad told me it's almost time. You should head downstairs."

Jarred stopped and lowered his hands, gazing at himself in a human suit, wearing a tie. Thanikah looked back at him, and saw the panicked look on his face, and she smiled as she stood beside him, putting her hand on his. She looked at him through the mirror, "You're going to be fine, Jarred."

He swallowed, "I'm getting married."

She nodded, "Because you proposed. Because you love her so much you want to marry her."

"Am I doing the right thing, Thanikah…?" Jarred said, looking a little nervous.

She shrugged and said, "Do you feel like it's the right thing?"

Jarred was quiet for a minute, before he finally said, "Yes… yes, it's the right thing to do."

Thanikah smiled encouragingly again as she smacked him on the lower back, "Then get down outside, lover boy. Let's get this done."

Jarred took a deep breath and nodded, and Thanikah opened the door for him, as they stepped out and headed downstairs into the front yard.

Jane had set up the 'altar' on a tent beside the beach again, with chairs on either side of the aisle, where the Normandy crew, both old and new, sat. Joker and EDI sat beside Nicholas, and on their left was Instructor Jack and Kasumi Goto. Behind them were the Urdnots… Wrex, Bakara, Mordin, Shepard and Grunt. On the other side of the pew were the ex-Cerberus agents, Miranda Lawson and Jacob Taylor, with Liara T'Soni and a drell she introduced as her husband, Feron. Tali sat behind them, with Kaidan, Cruz and Traynor.

He looked around, and saw his father, Edison and Tristan standing by the altar and he went to them, grasping hands with them before standing beside his father, "Hi dad…"

Garrus' mandibles flared as his son stood beside him, and nervously fidgeted with his suit, "Hey, Jarred. Kind of makes me happy that we didn't have this sort of wedding in my time."

Jarred looked up at his father, "You didn't marry Mom this way?"

The turian shook his head, "We had Admiral Hackett marry us, with only a few witnesses." He chuckled, "Nothing this fancy though. I get the feeling she's making up for her own dream of a 'fairy tale wedding' by doing this."

"I knew I should've just married her on the Normandy." Jarred sighed.

Garrus laughed his mandibles twitching, "Then you'd have a problem containing all these guests." He nodded towards the doors of the house, "Besides, you're my only child. You deserve something special for your wedding."

Jarred pulled at his collar again, and Garrus shook his head as he pulled at his son's shoulder to make him look at him. He fixed his son's collar, "Stop fidgeting. You look good enough."

He sighed as he let his father fix his suit, "Yeah. I'm good… pre-wedding jitters, I guess."

Garrus laughed, but soon somebody started the music, and he smoothened his son's tie one last time. The front door of the house opened, and Thanikah stepped out, holding a small bouquet of flowers. Jarred looked over to Edison, who swallowed at the sight of the drell in a blue-green dress. Behind her, Amira stepped out as well, wearing the same blue-green dress, but she had removed her helmet again, and her dark black hair was fixed on the top of her head with curls flowing down in strands. He heard Tristan sigh, and he looked over his best friend, "Why are you sighing for, Tristan? You'll get married in a few months."

"I wish it was tomorrow." Tristan said, whispering, "But she wanted us to finish the house we're building in Rannoch first."

Jarred grinned and looked at the door again to see his mother, who was acting as Meiou's maid of honor, coming down on a blue-green human dress. From the corner of his eye, he saw his father nod approvingly, and as she passed by them, she winked and stood at the opposite side of the aisle.

Finally, Meiou came out from the door, and Jarred's breath quickened at the sight of her. She was wearing the dress she wore during their shore leave, but there was now a small train of chiffon that flowed behind her. Her hair was pinned up, and a small tiara held it together, with a veil on it that went down her shoulder. She smiled at the guests as she wound her arms around James Vega's pre-offered arm, who she picked as the one to give her away. They walked down the aisle, and as they got to them, James bowed and kissed Meiou's hand, before offering it to Jarred.

He nodded to his Instructor, and took her hand, weaving his fingers with hers. Meiou smiled as they made their way up the altar. "You're shaking a little, Jarred." She whispered.

"Am I?" Jarred said, "Sorry… you're just so beautiful. I feel so damn lucky." He smirked down at her as Samara stood in front of the altar. "Besides, I can't wait to get back to the apartment. As good as you look in that dress, Meiou… I prefer you naked."

Meiou's face turned pink as she bowed her head, and Samara raised her hands.

"Dearly beloved…" Samara said, "We have gathered here today to support the marriage of our friends, Meiou Seishiro and David Jarred Vakarian." Meiou smirked as Jarred winced with the use of his real name. "As I believe no one here objects to the union of these two, let us listen to them as they speak their vows to each other."

Garrus came forward and gave a ring to Jarred, who took it and slipped it into Meiou's finger. "Meiou…" He started, "A long time ago, all I cared about was proving people wrong. I was… obsessed in proving to people that even though I'm a turian-human, I can be stronger than them. But everything changed when I met you." He looked up at her, and her eyes watered with tears of joy as she smiled, "Tristan told me… I can be your teacher… your guide… to show you all the things you have missed. And my mother told me that you could be my reason… to live. Something to protect." From behind him, Jane and Tristan smiled. "You've been in the dark for over fifty years. And… I… want to show you everything you want to know. And to love you every day while we're together."

A tear fell down her eye, and Meiou wiped it away as Amira passed her a ring. She took Jarred's hand and put in on his ring finger as he had done, "Jarred, when… you caught me from when I fell from my tank…" Jarred blinked, as he didn't know that she was already conscious at that time, "It was the first time… in a long time… that I felt warmth. You have been with me since I woke up. You taught me about the galaxy that I knew too little of. You defended me, and took great care of me… that it only seemed natural that I would fall in love with you." At this, her face flushed pink again, "You are my light. My guide. And… I want it to be that way for the rest of my life. I love you."

Jarred smiled, "I love you too…"

Samara smiled at them, "Then by the power vested upon me as Councilor for the System Alliance, and as a Siari priestess, I now pronounce you… man and wife." She nodded at the two of them, "You may kiss your bride, Jarred."

Jarred grinned at Councilor Samara, and pulled Meiou into his arms. She let out a squeak of surprise, before almost melting in his arms as he kissed her. Their friends and families clapped and hooted, James whistling loudly, cheering on the new couple.

Meiou separated from him a little and hugged him, before putting her lips near his ear,"My light… my light…" She whispered, making him shiver at the heat of her voice, "Shall we get this over with, so that we can go back to our apartment?"

Jarred laughed, "Oh you bet." He kissed her again, before turning to their audience, smiling and waving as they stepped down the altar as husband and wife, towards the new stage of their life.

THE END


End file.
